


A New Better Life

by Ulltima101



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Amelia Bones is so Done, BAMF Harry, F/M, Good Dumbledore, Grey Harry, Harry has Emotional Problems, Hermione is Shy, Instinctual Harry, Invaluable Resource Hermione, Magical History is Taught, Rival Draco, Smart Harry, Snape isnt a total dick to children, Tactician Ron, ron is a good friend
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 23
Words: 63,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26657815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ulltima101/pseuds/Ulltima101
Summary: A re-imagining of Harry's life where he applies himself a little bit more, works a little harder, and gets closer to more people than just Ron and Hermione.
Comments: 14
Kudos: 71





	1. A New Better Life

Author note: In an effort to improve readability I'm going back through and redoing all the chapters. Hope it helps.

The Hogwarts express stood in all of its bright red glory puffing out smoke as it waited on the students to board. This glorious steam engine had made the trip to Hogsmeade several hundred times and would continue on to make several hundred more trips. A marvel to all of the magical world, a steam engine hid among one of the largest London train stations completely unnoticed by the muggles.

The glory of the train was one of the first things Harry had noticed, though he did not know it's history he knew it was his ticket to a better life. He had known it since he had gotten his letter explaining so much and so little at the same time. A new world beyond the pale of the horribleness he had known all of his abused life. Harry stuffed his wand in his pocket as he tried to shuffle his meager possessions onto the train following the bright red hair of his new acquaintance Ronald Weasley, a first year just like Harry himself, to an empty compartment. Once inside Harry stashed his trunk above his head and Hedwig, his beautiful snowy owl, by his feet before becoming comfortable enough to relax. Finally away from the Dursleys and his little room under the stairs he visibly sagged. A strong face held for so long finally dropped off him, in those few seconds his face seems to age years. It isn't the face of a young child instead someone much older who is used to the harshness of life. He looked across at Ron who was staring out the window at his mother and father who were waving the children off, and boy did they have children to wave off, four Weasley boys were on the train today and one Weasley girl stood by her parents.

Long did Harry wonder what his first days would be like in this Castle he had heard so much about it from Hagrid, a truly giant man who carried a pink umbrella concealing his wand. He had been told of the towering walls and the Black Lake that Hagrid claimed contained a giant squid and a colony of merpeople. A shuffling at the door caught his attention as someone shook the door handle. His mask of reservation sliding back over his face as a shorter girl with bushy brown hair peeked her head inside before shoving her way in with a sigh and an apology on her lips. She carried a moderately sized trunk and what appeared to be a cat carrier in her hands.

"I'm sorry to burst in here boys, but the other first year cabins are ef..."

Her words dropped as she actually saw who was in the compartment and her mind whirred into action. This was Harry Potter also known as The-Boy-Who-Lived. He seemed quite normal for such an extraordinary young man she noted to herself internally, she needed to not muck this up as she was so apt to doing. Looking back on her past, she saw no friends outside of her books and stories. After all, she had driven them all away with her words that carried to much meaning, to much bite without her meaning them to. Well this was her new beginning she would not be friendless here also!

"You're Harry Potter aren't you? Oh, your glasses are damaged, may I?"

The girl said as she placed her carrier by her feet and placed her trunk above her head. The carrier jostled slightly as she moved and a low growl emanated from it, upon closer inspection Harry was sure he had seen a pair of amber eyes peering back at him. Hermione's attention however was fixated on Harry and his red headed compatriot, after not receiving an answer she realized quickly that the boys were staring at her wide eyed.

"Oh I'm dreadfully sorry, I've forgotten to introduce myself, my name is Hermione Granger."

"Already messing up my chances of having friends." Hermione thought spitefully too herself, truly she expected better of herself she shouldn't have gotten so excited. She needed to just calm down and use her head.

The other occupants of the cabin looked at this new girl in much different ways. Ron honestly couldn't care less of this girl he was waiting on the snack trolley to come round for some every flavor beans and chocolate frogs. Harry on the other hand couldn't really turn away from this rather interesting girl. She knew him? Knew who he was when he had only just learned himself, hopefully this would not be a common occurrence, after all he didn't know how he would deal with a lot of attention focused on him.

"Well as you know I'm Harry, and how would you go about doing anything to my glasses? I must admit I've been kept from magic for most of my life." Harry replied to Hermione's question of his glasses, the glass of the right lens was chipped on the bottom side, the left ear holder was bent out of shape making them sit slightly lopsided, and in the middle the glasses some tape was just barely keeping them together. Overall it truly was a shabby display of quality and Harry's face heated up as he realized how bad they looked. He looked at Hermione with some embarrassment as he held out his glasses to her after sliding them down from his face.

He attempted to see the motion Hermione used to perform the spell, but his vision was truly atrocious without his glasses so the details were lose on him. He did however hear the incantation "Oculus Repairo" chanted to his right, and then his glasses placed back on his face with a light brush of fingers across his forehead. Glasses back on his face he could see Ron finally paying attention to them with a grin and a thumbs up, Hermione however was slightly flushed as her voice shook out a " How are they Harry? Everything the way it should be?"

"Curse my shaking voice" was all Hermione could think as she mentally slapped herself, let alone how she let he fingers linger a second longer than was appropriate when she gave him back his glasses. After what felt like an eternity Harry nodded his head at her getting one aimed back at him almost immediately. Relief washing over Hermione's face as she leaned back and relaxed her head on the seat-back.

Harry watched as Hermione's rigidity faded after he confirmed his glasses were alright. Truly an interesting pair he had met in his first hours of magic schooling, he would have to learn much about this new world though for now it was relaxation time before they reached the end of the railway.

Sadly it was not to be that Harry Potter would be able to rest on the train to Hogsmeade. Fate had other plans apparently.

"Sweets here dearies, caramelized pineapple, lemon drops, chocolate frogs, Berty Bots Every Flavor Beans, and every other sweet wizarding Britain can offer!" Harry raised from his seat at the same time Ron did but Harry waved for him to sit back down as he pulled out a sack of coins that he obtained in Diagon Alley after the goblin that had taken him to his vault offered a bottomless coin purse to carry a portion of his vaults funds around with him. He began paying the kind lady for a few chocolate frogs, a box of Berties Beans for Ron, and after a look at Hermione who seemed to be looking anywhere but at Harry a small packet of Red Vines he has seen her eyeing. He handed the charming old lady her coins and threw the candies to his two friends, but didn't get to move from the hall back into his cabin before he heard a crash from behind him and a rather high pitched drawl.

"Potter! Hold there a moment would you?"

A boy with slicked back blonde hair and two larger dark haired boys skulking behind him approached, one of which had caused the cart to crash as he shoved it out of the way. The old lady wailed loudly as her honestly rather rickety cart was threatening to break into pieces. Harry fearing the cart to fall braced himself against it and called out

"Hermione does that spell you cast work on things besides glasses?" Harry asked quickly

Hermione stuck her head outside the compartment and upon seeing Harry's predicament confirmed what he had thought.

"Yes Harry! Simply state Repairo and make a V with one leg slightly higher and move inward towards the middle."

Harry's first attempt at the spell did nothing except spit out some light purple sparks, his second attempt saw the cart repaired as a prefect came running toward them demanding to know what happened. Harry stood by ready to receive his punishment for interfering as Malfoy and one of his giant friends slunk into a nearby cabin filled with people in green robes. Harry frowned as they rather clearly abandoned their friend.

A slight nudge on Harry's shoulder brought him back to the real world as the Prefect was staring at him impatiently clearly waiting on a response. When she saw she would get no such response she turned to the trolley lady, now given a name of Miss Southerly by the girl speaking, quickly began her story

"Well dearie, I was moving my cart along after selling some candy to this young man here." At this point she paused her recount to gesture towards Harry who nodded his head corroborating her story. "And after the young man paid me this one over here." She took a moment to point a finger accusingly at the large brute. "Shoved my Trolley into the wall breaking the support on the right side, but luckily this young man being quick witted braced himself against it holding it up. After receiving instructions on how to do a repair charm he cast the spell on his second attempt and then you came running shortly after."

The prefect nodded her head before turning to the larger boy and grabbing him by the ear before dragging him behind her "You will be receiving detention for this, and you will be gaining five points for quick wit to whichever house you get sorted into Mr... Potter." With that final statement she was gone down the hallway still dragging the large boy by the ear. A few heads peaked out of cabins along the way watching the commotion with wide eyes.

Harry shuffled back into the compartment Hermione, Ron, and he had claimed and was immediately met with a

"Bloody well done mate, true Gryffindor bravery." Ron announced clapping him on the back during his congratulations. Hermione spoke up quickly after that "More like Ravenclaw quick wit, if he hadn't made the connection of my spell being a modified version of another that trolley was definitely going on the floor along with all those sweets. I shudder to think of how much money that would be wasted like that."

She was met with a blank stare from Ron and a shy grin from Harry.

"Whatever you call it all I can see is this being trouble. That blonde haired boy didn't seem to happy when his friend got caught." Harry said as he once again made himself comfortable slowly slipping into a more comfortable position as he slowly nodded of.


	2. A New Family?

Harry jerked awake as a light touch shifted his shoulder, his eyes still out of focus he couldn't quite make out who had shaken him awake. After a few seconds his eyes focused in and he saw Hermione with her hand still outstretched and a slight smile on her face. Harry scanned her face for just a moment taking in all the little details; How her nose was slightly crinkled, her dimples where perfectly spaced on her cheeks, her eyebrows formed a delicate curve over her chocolate-brown eyes. Overall she was very cute and Harry immediately blushed at the rather close contact and at his own thoughts.

"Harry..." Hermione's voice cut through his contemplation of her face and his eyes jerked up to hers quickly.

"Ah sorry Hermione, I wasn't uh... I mean, well you see..." His voice slowly died off as he failed to come up with an excuse for his behavior and his blush increased two-fold. "I'm sorry did you need something?" he asked rather awkwardly his voice low.

"Yes Harry, I need you and Ron to step out while I change into my robes." She said as she rolled her eyes at the boy supposedly not noticing the by-play that Harry had just had with himself. She turned quickly hands disappearing into her trunk and started shuffling around things hiding the slight dusting of pink on her cheeks as she realized Harry had been inspecting her face with a lot of scrutiny, and she wasn't sure how that made her feel. After a few moments she had pulled out some robes that Harry couldn't make out very much detail on as he stepped outside with Ron.

"So what House do you think you'll get mate? I figure I'll be Gryffindor same as all my family." Ron said as Harry turned towards him with a raised eyebrow. Harry shuffled his feet and wrung his hands as he really thought about it. Smart, Brave, Loyal, or Cunning? Which one did he think represented himself the most? At best he didn't think he was very well attached to any of the aspects.

"No clue mate, I figure that whatever method they use to sort us will be better than any guess I could make. I just hope I'm not with the Blonde Jerk, he doesn't seem to be the right sort." Harry said as he felt movement behind him. His hand moved upwards almost automatically covering most of his upper body by forming a tight V with his forearm and bicep. This was accompanied by a quick ducking of his head shielding it from the threat of... Hermione. who was stepping out of the cabin with wide eyes. Harry's voice came out stiff and forced

"Sorry Hermione, you scared me." Harry said as he ducked into the compartment quickly to change into his own robes as Hermione stepped out fully. She sent a searching gaze at Harry's back before turning to Ron with a raised eyebrow. Ron stepped in behind Harry with a similar expression aimed at Hermione. They changed in silence each facing the opposite direction until Ron gasped. Harry turned rapidly to see him looking at his robes with wide eyes.

"What?" Harry said with some worry in his voice. He began looking at his robes and his face to see if something was out of order or wrong that he hadn't noticed when he had looked at the robes before donning them.

"Your robes Harry, those are blimey high quality." Ron said with awe in his voice, he lifted his hand and after a nod from Harry ran his hand down the fabric. It was soft and very well sewn.

"Well the goblins said that robes represent who you are so I bought some nice ones." Harry said as he turned and looked at Ron's robes, they were lower quality but they looked nice enough to him. He shrugged and opened the door to let Hermione back in not meeting her eyes as he turned back around quickly self conscious about the way he had reacted earlier.

"Quite dashing boys." She murmured as she stole glances at Harry and Ron before sitting back in her seat and making herself comfortable for the last few minutes of the journey.

Harry turned towards the windows and tried to look out to see Hogwarts, but it was beyond dark and he couldn't make out anything besides the vague shape of the castle itself. A few moments later a voice emanated from above their heads instructing them to leave their trunks and animals on the train as they would be delivered to the castle. Harry glanced at Hedwig who peered back at him with large round eyes and bobbed her head at him. Harry grinned back at her, such a smart girl his owl was. He opened the window and then Hedwig's cage. Hedwig stretched her wings, hooted once at Harry, and then launched herself out the window. Harry grinned as he stood next to the window as he watched her swoop into the night.

"Harry! What if she gets lost? How could you be so careless?" Hermione cried as she rushed up to the window and looked for Hedwig. Harry placed a hand on her shoulder and grinned a wide smile at her.

"Hermione, Hedwig is very smart I'm sure she'll know exactly what to do." Harry turned away from the window and closed it back up before turning back to the cage and closing it as well. He placed the cage on top of his trunk and left both on the floor as the train lurched to a stop and the whistle let out a shrill shriek. The trio left the carriage and joined the herd of students making their way off of the train.

"Firs' Years! Firs' Years Over Here!" Hagrid shouted loudly over the din and bustle of the crowd. He called several more times before taking a look about and nodded that it seemed he had the right amount of students. He turned and led the children to a small grotto with several boats tied off listing in the water.

"Four to a boat, Four to a boat now, no shoving there'll be plenty of room for all of ye." Hagrid called. The trio waited until most of the boats were full before taking one for themselves, the crowd was mostly thinned out now and very few still stood on the rocky shore. Harry was attempting to look out the mesh of vines at the far side of the cavern when the boat rocked suddenly. He jerked quickly turning around wondering who had decided to join them.

"Hello, my name is Susan, Susan Bones." Came a very meek and quite voice. The voice belonged to a girl sitting there with her head down and hands in her lap refusing to make eye contact with anyone. She looked up a few seconds later and Harry could see freckles spread across her face which including a bit of a wide nose sitting under honey colored eyes.

"My friend Hannah and I got separated getting off the train and I can't find her, would it be alright if I rode with you?" Her voice was hard to distinguish among the many voices around them.

Harry nodded his head at her signifying his acceptance of her sitting with them. Before another word could be said the boats all lurched forward and started gliding across the waters of the Black Lake. Harry peered over the edge of the boat and immediately recoiled when he saw a large tentacle flying by under the water. He was still gasping for breath when he heard everyone else gasp as well. When he looked about he saw everyone looking up and that was when he saw it as well. Hogwarts Castle all lit up with lights in every window he could see. It was... gorgeous beyond reproach, honestly a sight that you can not have really lived without seeing.

The boats all docked on a smooth shore as the students and Hagrid disembarked onto a small path leading up to the school. " All right gather roun and stay togetha." Hagrid announced as he started walking towards the large doors of the castle. A few minutes of walking and many hushed whispers lead the children into a large atrium where all the students stood huddled together. A tall woman in burgundy robes with her hair in a bun and a slight scowl on her face stood there waiting for them.

" Here ye are Minerva, the first years as always." Hagrid said as he walked into the hall closing the doors quickly behind him. Minerva glanced behind her as Hagrid closed the door.

"Now then, beyond that door will be your new family while you stay in Hogwarts, to know who your family will be you shall be Sorted. The sorting process is an ancient tradition passed down by the Founders of Hogwarts themselves. Now then, as we walk in you will gather at the base of the steps and wait to be called up for the process. This will be mostly alphabetical by last name. Please do not wander to far before you are sorted into your House. After your sorting feel free to join your new friends and family at the table with the appropriate banner above it." Minerva stated quite loudly so that all of the children could hear her.

Minerva strode quickly forward throwing open the grand doors of the dining hall far easier than a woman of her size should have been able to do. As she strode forward the children followed her in only to whisper excitedly at the ceiling. There was a perfect recreation of the night sky. The moon and stars and even a few clouds were drifting and spinning above their heads as they followed this Minerva. Once at the base of the stairs leading up to what was obviously the staff table and a large rugged three-legged stool and a floppy pointed hat sitting upon it. Suddenly a zipper from nowhere seemed to open up along the brim of the hat and it started to sing a wonderful song introducing itself as the Sorting Hat.

After the song Minerva pulled a piece of paper up and started calling names. As she did so students went up and sat on the stool and placed the hat on their head. After a few moments the Hat would announce one of the four Houses.

Harry glanced around with a grin, so this was how they would be sorted. A hundred thoughts ran through his mind as he thought of all the things the hat may do; It may scan his mind, it may ask questions, it may test his personality. Oh the absolute possibilities presented made his head reel. While in his own thoughts he barely registered that Hermione and Ron both were sent to Gryffindor, Susan Bones was sent to Hufflepuff, and the Blonde Troublemaker, now named Draco Malfoy, was sent to Slytherin. Harry soon noticed that he was the last person standing and several whispers were moving throughout the hall.

"Harry Potter!" Minerva announced finally. Truly this was the moment she had dreaded. The poor boy didn't need this kind of attention, she wished he had been able to live a normal life with normal parents and a normal childhood.

Harry walked briskly up to the stool and sat on it before taking the hat from Minerva and shoving it on his head quickly. It sunk over his eyes and ears, canceling all the noise from the students instantly.

"Oh my! What an interesting mind you have young man." A silky smooth voice spoke from within his head. " Yes what interesting thoughts, truly you shall be a very difficult placement."

Harry was so intrigued! A sentient hat that could read thoughts and make conscious choices.

"Ahh thank you young man, its not many who marvel at my creation and question how and why. Now let the Sorting begin. Yes, hmmm, most difficult. You hold traits off all four houses, but none more so than the others. The Quick Wit of a true Ravenclaw, the Loyalty of a Hufflepuff, the Cunning of a Slytherin, and the Bravery of a Gryffindor. It's not rare that someone has more than one trait, but to have all four well, very few indeed have had something like this maybe four or five children in my memory."

"Excuse me Mister Hat, but do I get a say in this?" He seemed sort of silly asking a question like this but it mattered a lot to him.

"Of course my boy and I can already see what you mean to do. But let me speak to you first of the other choices you may find yourself changing your mind. In Ravenclaw you could be a scholar someone who explores the bounds of magic and what is and isn't possible. In Hufflepuff you could become a Leader to those around you with that untapped natural Charisma you posses. In Slytherin you could become a savvy political powerhouse, someone who shapes the world through cunning guile and suave actions. And finally your personal choice. Gryffindor, the hall of the Brave. Here you will do well I see no doubt, but your Bravery will attract Challenge and Strife is this truly what you want?"

Harry thought long and hard about his choice before he nodded once to himself. " I'm not choosing any of the houses for what you said though they all sound interesting, I want to go to Gryffindor to be with my friends, they're why I'm making this choice."

The hat chuckled loudly in Harry's head " Very well then you will do well in the den of lions, my friend. Do me a favor though, come to the Headmaster's Office and share your stories with me it gets terribly boring sitting on a shelf all year with only Dumbledore to speak with."

Harry was surprised by this request but thought his acceptance and the hat suddenly shouted " GRYFFINDOR!" When Harry took the hat off he expected to be met with the same applause as the other students, but all he got was deafening silence. He looked around confused before he looked up at the ceiling and his eyes widened. The moon had moved from one side of the room to the other. He had apparently been in the hat for near two hours if he had to guess based off of where the moon was at now. The food had already come and been eaten and they were into deserts now Harry noticed.

"Ahh Mr. Potter we were worried about you, no one has been inside the hat for that long before." Came a male voice over his shoulder. Harry turned and looked over his shoulder to see Albus Dumbledore himself from the chocolate frog card he had gotten earlier. " Now then Mr. Potter, as you have missed supper I sincerely ask that after you eat your fill you would meet me in my office for a short discussion if it so pleases you?"

Harry gaped at the Headmaster, invited to the Headmaster's Office on the first day? What would he want to talk about? How would he even find his office? He nodded briskly to the Headmaster still sitting on the stool.

Dumbledore grinned at Harry in a grandfatherly way. "Worry not Mr. Potter go join your friends and new family, your Head of House Minerva will bring you to my office after you choose a bed in your dormitory."

Harry hurried over to the Gryffindor and took a seat between Hermione and Ron who both grinned and passed him a large plate filled with some turkey and potatoes they had obviously made and kept for him when they saw he would miss dinner. As he looked up and down the table he saw several interesting figures that he deemed he would have to get to know. So many people to meet and he hoped to befriend all of them. He grinned to himself as he ate his turkey, a new family for his new Life.


	3. Hard Questions? Hard Answers.

Author's Note: In my version of Hogwarts, classes are shorter and focus on Theoretical work more than Practical, outside experimentation is encouraged, and homework is minimal unless a professor really feels it is needed for the class. The extra time is used for more free periods, which are supposed to be used for individual study and practice.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~__~_~_On With The Show~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~__~_~_~_~~_~_~_~_~_~

After desserts had ended and Dumbledore had left a grave warning that the Forbidden Forest was in fact forbidden and to stay away from a specific Third Floor Corridor, he sent them off to bed. Harry quickly stood from his place, but found himself lost as to where exactly he was supposed to go when a voice cut through the chatter around him.

"First years! With me, my name is Percy Weasley and I will be leading you to the Gryffindor common room. Step lively now." The voice was coming from a tall lanky red-headed boy with a shining badge on his chest. He stood a good head higher than most of his peers, which made him easy to identify among the masses of students. He was clearly one of Ron's older brothers based on the fact that their faces seem very similar, and that he had already been told Ron's brothers names.

Harry moved quickly to start following the tall redheaded boy, but not before looking around him as they exited the Dining Hall. The Slytherin students were headed down a set of doors at a slight decline, clearly indicating their common room was below ground. The Hufflepuff's were disappearing down a side passage that when Harry strained to look down swore he could see a Badger head situated on the wall. The Ravenclaw students moved with the Gryffindors for a while before suddenly diverging heading up a different set of stairs.

Finally, Harry turned back and took in his surroundings noticing that the stairs that he had been walking on were MOVING, shifting and twisting connecting to random outlets. Harry assumed they connected to the rest of the castle in some sort of pattern he would learn as he continued his studies. Harry shifted where he was walking slowly moving closer to the railing once he di he looked on in awe at the sites around him muttering to himself

"Surely there must be a set pattern? Or something on the railings to control where the individual steps connect? What do you think Hermio...ne" Harry said as he turned to ask Hermione her thoughts, but quickly noticed that he was actually behind the other first years and had fallen back next to a pair of medium height redheads that he quickly assumed were Ron's other brothers. He ducked his head to begin apologizing however, before he could begin he was interrupted

"Well I'm no Hermione, but the stairs are mostly random," One of the red-heads said " My name is Fred..." and suddenly the other spoke up " and my name is George." the other spoke up. Harry turned and looked between the two trying to spot any difference, he quickly gave up concluding that they were twins a fact Ron had not mentioned to him.

"Ahh sorry, I didn't realize I had fallen behind the other first years. I was just so amazed by the stairs moving on their own. I'm Harry, Harry Potter" Harry said as he offered each one a hand, then smiling to himself pulled them back and reoffered them this time only crossed over each other. As all this was happening the crowd was coming up to what Harry assumed was the fifth floor by his count. Quickly turning he watched as the Ravenclaws were already two stories above them and heading towards the opposite side of the staircase room.

"Quite alright there Harry! Let's just get you back up to the first years, before stuffy old Percy gets himself in a twist" They both said at just about the same moment, before taking a hand each and shaking them grinning widely as they did so. They both turned and kept walking as they began making room for Harry, who was practically being dragged along by the twins, to make his way back up to the first years.

Harry was deposited near the end of the first years with a firm pat on each shoulder from the twins before they disappeared back into the crowd talking to each other as they seamlessly glided through the crowd. Harry raised an eyebrow, that would be an interesting thing to learn if he could convince them to teach him. He was still pondering the interesting red-headed duo, when he noticed they had left the staircase and were standing in front of a portrait of a rather large lady.

"This is The Fat Lady, she guards Gryffindor common room and will only allow entry if you know the password, the password changes weekly on alternating days depending on the week. The new password will always be inside on a pinboard, make sure to memorize it each week or you will have to wait on someone else to let you in." Percy said as he turned and faced the portrait he had spoken about.

She smiled at the group widely before stating in a clear voice "Password dearies?"

"Good evening and good year, my lady. The password is Fortitudo." Percy stated in a clear voice.

Harry watched amazed as the portrait swung backward revealing a large room with couches and tables covering the floor space and a large fireplace. The room was colored in gold and burgundy colors from the floor to the furniture. Three doors stood along the far wall with large letters engraved on them, a B on the first a P on the second and a G placed on the third moving from right to left.

"The common room is just that a common room you can study or relax here, we only ask that you keep it at an average speaking volume. The three doors lead respectively to the Boys' Dorms, the Prefect's Lounge, and the Girls' Dorm. The Prefect's Lounge is off limits unless you are a prefect or are invited inside by one. First years your dorms will be the very first door after you climb the stairs, pick a bed and a House Elf will deliver the items you left on the train there. For the first few weeks, an older student will make sure you make it to your classes on time and won't get lost in the halls. There is a curfew for all students outside of their dorm rooms at ten PM; first, second, and third years are expected to be in bed by 12.00 AM or in simpler terms midnight. Fourth Years and up have no curfew in the common room. Now you will get your class schedules at breakfast tomorrow so off to bed with you." Percy said with an air of finality to him. Harry looked back as he followed the other boys to the stairs and saw Percy breathing deeply as a tall boy with brown hair walked over to him and started speaking to him rather animatedly.

Harry couldn't hear the conversation as he rounded the bend and took the first steps up the stairs however. He grinned to himself pondering if Percy practiced that speech beforehand to make sure it was right. He hadn't seemed to have rushed at any point during it, but he never actually paused for breath like you would if you had been more relaxed. Thoughts for a different time Harry decided as he followed Ron into their dorm room. Five beds were spread out in a semi-circle around the room. They were incredibly well made four poster beds with bright red and gold covers and privacy curtains. A large ironbound chest sat at the end of each bed, clearly to place their things in.

"I wonder how we claim our beds..." Harry heard as he stopped admiring the room and looked at his new dorm-mates. There were five of them counting Harry himself, he knew Ron of course, but the others were a mystery to him.

"Well, I suppose we just pick a bed and say it's ours?" Harry said as he walked over to the only bed next to a window and sat on it. As soon as he did so his trunk from the train appeared on the bed along with Hedwig's cage.

"See nothing to it. My name is Harry by the way, what are all yours?" Harry said as he stood up and opened the window. Almost as soon as he did Hedwig flew in and landed on his shoulder, before nipping his ear lightly. She cawed at him once before fluttering her wings and landing on an owl post that Harry was certain hadn't been there before.

The boys went around the room and claimed their own beds as well as introducing themselves. Starting clockwise from Harry's own bed was Ron Weasley, who Harry already knew, Seamus Finnigan, who had a slight Irish sounding accent, Dean Thomas, who was easily taller than any of the other boys by a few inches, and finally Neville Longbottom, who appeared quite shy to Harry.

As the boys were talking and starting to get to know each other a trio of knocks sounded from the door and a voice Harry recognized as his new Head of House Minerva McGonagall announced loudly to be heard through the large wooden door.

"Is everyone presentable?" she asked loudly. After receiving confirmation that they all were she opened the door and spoke once more in a quieter voice "Mr. Potter the Headmaster has requested your presence. He said you would be expecting this summons?" Harry's eyes widened as he caught what he could only describe as protectiveness in her voice.

"Um Yes Professor, he asked if I would speak with him after I had settled in," Harry said as he motioned that his things were already placed and his bed ready for his return.

Her eyes softened a bit before she nodded once " Come along then, we don't want you being overtly tired tomorrow." she motioned for him to follow her and set a moderate pace expecting Harry to catch up to her quickly. He caught up with her after they had left the common room and they walked in comfortable silence for another twenty feet before she began speaking again.

"You know Harry I knew your mother and father they were both close friends of mine, and your father, James, was one of the best to ever come through my classroom." She said as her voice hitched slightly, thinking about poor James and Lily had always made her tear up. They both died too young to a madman out to destroy everything in her opinion.

"Really Professor? Nobody could ever tell me anything about them..." Harry's voice was perfectly even as he spoke, revealing that he was trying not to lose control of his emotions. The few times that had happened back at the Dursley's had never ended well for him. Hopefully, things would be different now that he had come to Hogwarts.

They spoke about inconsequential things as they went down the stairs and around the castle before stopping in front of a large stone gargoyle. McGonagall turned towards Harry and motioned him forward to stand next to her.

"Just like the portrait in front of the Gryffindor Common Room the Headmaster's Office is protected and has a password, generally if you are called here someone will give you the password you need to enter. For instance, the password for tonight is Bertie Bots Every Flavor Beans. Once spoken the gargoyle will step aside and allow you entry, now the next important part to be aware of is that the stairs will move themselves all you must do is stand on the very first block." McGonagall stated as she stepped on the lowest step and began to ride the stairs upwards to a large door with a very heavy looking knocker on it.

As they stood in front of the door Harry heard Dumbledore's voice issue from behind it "Come in Minerva, come in young Harry, welcome to my office."

Harry's first thought about the entire office was that the entire thing was absolutely filled to the brim. Portraits filled the walls from just slightly above the Headmaster to the ceiling each with a single person sitting or standing, most were watching him enter and spoke amongst themselves, others, however, continued what they were doing writing in books and passing from their portraits sometimes into others nearby sometimes into ones he couldn't see. Next was all of the little baubles and dodads that puffed, hummed, or whirred. Sometimes emitting sparks or colored smoke, there seemed to be quills waiting for the outputs as they would begin moving as soon as one of the little machines acted. Next was the books, some bookcases filled in the surrounding spaces that looked older than the headmaster himself, some of these books were so old that their leatherbound backs were peeling and their writing greyed with age so that they were hardly distinguishable. Others, however, looked brand new. The older books outnumbered these newer entries almost three to one by Harry's quick estimation.

The next thing that caught Harry's eye was the strange creature sitting on a roost nearby, it looked slightly like a falcon or perhaps an eagle was a more apt description due to its size. The avian stood tall and broad-chested and watched him with eyes that seemed to speak of intelligence all its own. Its plumage was, starting at the head, a burnt orange color, trailing into a bright red along its chest, which in itself faded into a pale gold at its lower stomach area. As Harry walked past he noticed that the bird's tail feathers were very long and seemed to be almost ablaze with a flame. The plumage of its tail was purplish pink and seemed to sway back and forth in an invisible breeze. It cawed at him once and it sounded almost like a melody had filled the office.

Finally, was Headmaster Dumbledore who sat behind a beautifully carved wooden desk holding an aged leather-bound tome. The desk had several pieces of parchment on it along with a large quill and inkwell. Harry couldn't quite make out what was written on the parchment, but it was long and the handwriting seemed to flow from one letter to the next. This all paled in the presence of the man himself, Albus Dumbledore was tall with a long beard and twinkling blue eyes hidden behind half-moon spectacles. His beard had several beads placed about halfway down it obviously meant to keep it in some sort of order. His robes were... extravagant to say the least, black with blue shooting stars shifting across the fabric at random. He sat in a fairly poised state, his back straight and his eyes moving in clean lines across the book he was reading.

Dumbledore smiled at Minerva as he watched young Harry gaze about the room with eyes so full of wonder and a keen intellect. Perhaps the boy should have been sorted into Ravenclaw with the way that he gained information with just a glance around the room. After Fawkes showed off a bit Dumbledore cleared his throat drawing young Harry's eyes to himself.

" Ahh Harry it is good to see you, I do hope that you found your rooms in order and to your liking?" Albus smiled at the young boy who nodded his head eagerly with a large smile on his face.

"Very good M'boy, now to get down to business. I imagine that you don't know much about your heritage so that's what I hope to cover with you today and in future meetings. You see your parents were both close friends of mine and I would be remiss in my duties as your Magical Guardian to not inform you of your history and what may be expected of you someday." Dumbledore began in a confident voice, this conversation desperately needed to happen and go well for young Harry to be prepared for the future.

"No, sir." Harry looked down so that his face was hidden. " The only thing I've ever been told about them is that my mother was a whore and my father a drunk who killed them both in a car crash."

As soon as the words had left Harry's mouth a chair had screeched across the floor and Minerva had made her way to the door while ranting under her breath. Harry recoiled heavily shielding his head and part of his chest. Dumbledore narrowed his eyes at this before stating in a clear voice "Minerva, come back here this instant!" his voice seemed to echo past Harry sounding louder behind him than it did in front of him. Minerva stormed back into the office her face red and panting slightly before she noticed Harry covering himself and her face lost all color and she moved the chair she had pushed backward back up to the desk.

"I'm sorry Harry, but that couldn't be further from the truth, your father was a brilliant man, a Lord of his house, and an Auror. He protected our society from the absolute worst of criminals. Your dear sweet mother was a Charms Master and was considered the smartest witch of her age, even after she left Hogwarts. Why she patented several things that make our lives easier in the magical world every day." Minerva said in a strained voice, her anger still clearly not diminished.

Dumbledore watched as Harry straightened and listened to Minerva like a puppy starved for attention. He eyed the boy critically now, and he did not like what he saw. Even with the robes he was small for his age and he sat slouched over, his robes hanging loosely off of his frame. His cheeks appeared slightly sunk in and his neck looked oddly skinny versus what it should be. All together it was not a great sight and it left Dumbledore with a growing feeling of terror.

"Harry," Dumbledore called out interrupting Minerva and his conversation. "I need you to answer some questions for me as honestly as you can." Minerva looked up at Dumbledore about to question why he had rudely interrupted her when she saw he was gesturing with his eyes at Harry. With the slight prompting from Albus she turned and really looked at Harry and made the same conclusions that he had... The boy had been neglected at minimum and possible abused at maximum.

"I'll do my best Headmaster," Harry said nervously before starting trying to make himself more presentable to the headmaster.

"Harry, I'm going to ask several questions right in a row I'd like you to answer them all after I finish. "Dumbledore gazed down at Harry who nodded back at him. "Firstly, when was the last time you had a full meal before tonight? What are your living arrangements like at the Dursley's Residence? Most importantly my boy, would you say you are happy there?"

Harry answered the questions truthfully, that he couldn't remember the last time he had a full meal, that he lived under the stairs in a cupboard, and that he was not happy at the Dursley's because he was treated like a spec of dirt most of the time and a freak the rest of the time.

Dumbledore seemed to wilt in his chair as Harry explained his living situation, and how he felt about his living arrangements. He had placed the boy there in the hopes that Petunia would not mistreat a child, but it was clear drastic actions would have to be taken.

"Harry, my boy I feel I must apologize, if I had known that your family would treat you like this I would have never even entertained the thought of placing you there. I am so sorry Harry for what I've done. We will have to rectify this before Yule Break comes around." As Dumbledore opened his mouth to continue speaking a bell began ringing and Dumbledore opened his eyes wide as he realized that it was already midnight.

"Harry, I swear to you as Headmaster and as your Magical Guardian that you will not be going back to that place without your own wish to do so I say so mote it be. Now please return to your bed tonight for your day tomorrow will be long and hopefully, better" Dumbledore was covered in a silver haze of light before he turned to Minerva who was gaping at him openly. "Please bring young Harry back to his room and make sure he gets to bed all right. After you are done return to me we have... much to talk about." Minerva nodded once and rose from her chair and opened the door for Harry

Harry rose from his seat and let himself be led away from the Headmaster's Office as he thought about what he had heard tonight. He didn't want to get his own hopes up, but based on the way the headmaster was speaking it sounded like things would hopefully get better.


	4. Normality? Not Really

The next morning saw Harry arise earlier than his dorm mates, Petunia waking him for chores had embedded in him a need to wake earlier and start quickly. He was dressed and ready within fifteen minutes and as he saw no one else would be waking for a long time yet he made his way downstairs into the common room. He hadn't paid an extreme amount of attention last night when he had come back but the common room was rather comfortably decorated. A large fireplace adorned one wall with a slowly crackling fire that didn't seem to dim in the minute Harry spent observing it. There were a number of chairs and couches spread throughout the common room that lent themselves well to the decor, a rich burgundy color that seemed to blend with the golden and red walls. There were several tables spread around obviously meant for homework. On one wall there was a large window that looked over Hogwart's grounds allowing him a view of the early rising sun before him. Outside of that the room just seemed... homey? He guessed, it was hard to describe, the room just felt inviting to him and lent him a sense of ease. As his observations were coming to an end he heard a noise behind him and instantly whirled around coming face to face with a girl slightly taller than himself. She smiled at him from the stairwell she came down.

"Ah hello Harry, early riser I see." She had leaned against the doorframe awaiting his response.

Harry glanced at her before answering, she wasn't dressed in the usual Hogwarts robes and instead was in a pair of cotton pants and a shirt with a cat on it. Her hair was a dark brown and ran just a bit past her shoulders.

"Yeah, I did lots of chores back home so I tended to get up early so I could get them done sooner." He replied smoothly not exactly a lie, but not the truth either. She didn't need to know that he did chores all day most days and there never was any end to them.

"Ahh yeah my parents didn't have me do a lot of chores but the ones I did have to do were" and she put a lot of emphasis on this next bit " THE WORST." She moved past Harry and grabbed a book off of a shelf of books that Harry hadn't noticed in his initial investigations.

"Anyway my Name is Katie Bell and I'm just a year above you." She gave him a friendly smile and sat down with her book."

After just a few moments she looked up at him from her book and said.

"Just in case you didn't hear last night, this bookshelf connects to the open areas of the library. As long as Hogwarts has it and it isn't restricted you can call for it here. Also, The post-it board right next to it has the new password each week along with any important announcements." Katie announced before returning to her book, something about Defense against creatures of gray morality Harry saw from the front of the book.

Harry looked at where she pointed and did, in fact, see a post-it board filled with small notes, posters, and all sorts of other things. He moved closer to it and started looking around reading the different post-its. Some were announcements of clubs and where to find them, others were reminders of things going on the year, a list of Feasts dominated the main part of it. Some handwritten notes announcing the names of the Prefects with little doodles on them along with their free periods and best times to contact them. Harry was impressed, he had completely missed this and it may have cost him in the future. A frown crossed his face, he needed to pay more attention to these sorts of things.

After maybe another half hour more people started coming down and making the common room much more lively. He looked for Ron, but didn't see him in the mass of students moving about, he did catch Hermione's eye however as she came downstairs fully dressed and hair in a frizzy ponytail. People were reading books and playing strange games of cards and candies that seemingly to Harry randomly exploded. Hermione and Harry left the common room following Percy Weasley to breakfast. He moved at a reasonable pace pointing out classrooms and interesting portraits to them.

"So Harry I was talking to some of the girls in my dorm last night and they had so many interesting things to say. Were you aware that the portraits here are all connected and could pass from portrait to portrait and could be seen all over the castle? Oh! and also that..." Harry listened to what she was saying filling the information away for later use and answering with the appropriate responses where needed. Hermione seemed to have a habit of rapid-fire talking and not leaving space for anyone to fill in. He didn't mind though she seemed smart and kind enough so he would deal with it.

The journey down to the Great Hall was uneventful mostly. Percy did point out the Hallway they were supposed to stay away from, which was good of him. Breakfast was a mostly quiet affair as very few people were there yet. The food, however, was delicious and Harry made sure to eat plenty. One of the tidbits Hermione had spouted had been that magic took up energy and made you tired just like physical exercise so being fully fed was very important.

As breakfast continued more people filtered into the Great Hall filling it to the brim. Shortly after several Professors began making their rounds down and up the tables. Professor McGonagall handed Hermione and he their schedules with a nod before moving on. It appeared that first up would be Charms with the Ravenclaws after breakfast. After McGonagall had walked away Ron slid into a seat across from Harry with his own schedule in hand. He immediately began eating with very poor manners. Harry tried to get his attention but failed and gave up with a look on his face.

After breakfast ended Harry, Ron, and Hermione were lead to the Charms classroom by a very short man who introduced himself as Professor Flitwick. After several minutes they entered a room with a bank of windows on one side, a large amount of writing on several blackboards on the opposite side of the windows. The back of the classroom had a door after a set of steps that Harry couldn't see into but he assumed was an office. The front of the room had a rather large desk and a blackboard with Charms 101 written across it.

"Welcome class to your first wizarding lesson. I am of course Professor Flitwick, and you will be seeing me for the next five years at a minimum and two more afterword if you seek any number of jobs requiring a charms specialization in our society. Today if you would open your charms book to page thirteen you will find the charm we will be using today. The Wingardium Leviosa charm. Put simply this charm allows you to levitate objects based on how much power you put behind the charm. First, we will be learning the hand and wand movements associated with this spell."

From here he showed the class the wand movements several times and had everyone practice, without saying the words mind, until he was happy with them. He continued giving several small pointers here and there. Eventually, he deemed the class proficient enough to practice their first times here under supervision and then continue to practice for the next time they met. He reminded them they would be graded on their progress and then gave them free leave to practice.

Harry's first attempt saw no effect, his second, third, and fourth attempt met the same fate. Frustration seeped into him and the next time he put more force into it. This saw the feather wobble quickly but neither take off or even lift slightly into the air. Annoyance getting the better of him Harry yelled in his head the words of the spell and reached deep inside himself. He found something there like a small pond of water. Suddenly he felt the pool ripple and knew he needed to do it now or he might not be able to.

"Wingardium Leviosa." The words flowed from his mouth smoothly, his hand moving slowly through the movements. Outside of Harry's singular focus, his desk was shaking and sweat had erupted across his skin. People around him had stopped casting, and the Professor was quickly making his way over to Harry, but before he could do anything Harry completed his spell. The words had left Harry's mouth and his feather had launched itself straight upward point first and embedded itself in the stone ceiling above Harry's desk.

Harry was busy looking upwards at his feather when he felt something run across his lip. By instinct alone, he licked his lips and found an odd taste in his mouth, one he had enough experience with from various bouts of Harry Hunting to know what it was. It was blood, he moved his hand to his face and found a small furrow under his right eye not too terribly long but deep and bleeding freely down the curve of his nose. He put his hand over the cut and hissed in annoyance as the pain hit him.

Moments later Flitwick had pulled him outside the classroom after instructing the class to continue working as he was taking Harry to the infirmary. As Flitwick and Harry moved through the halls of the school on their way to the Grand Staircase, Flitwick cast some sort of spell that produced a small songbird that Harry recognized from his time in elementary school.

"To the Headmaster, inform him I am taking Mister Potter to the Infirmary, and I would appreciate him meeting us there as he is Mr. Potter's Magical Guardian." Flitwick spoke clearly and with a wave of his wand the small bird flew straight through a wall and disappeared.

The unusual pair stopped at the Grand Staircase and after watching the stairs move and flip several times, Flitwick sighed then laid his hand on the banister and announced.

"I am a Hogwarts Professor taking a student to the infirmary, you will assist me in this endeavor." The stairs shuddered as the magic of Hogwarts itself shifted them into the correct pattern. Flitwick continued on his way up the stairs after they had finally stopped moving dragging a gaping Harry behind him.

Harry looked over the bannister and saw that ALL of the stairs had either stopped or shifted to assist their journey to the Infirmary.

"Professor that was amazing!" Harry announced as they continued on their way.

"Ah well you see Mr. Potter as a Master of Charms I know a few tricks to make my life simpler," Flitwick announced with a wink as he opened the large painted glass doors to the Infirmary. The art illustration was of several moving magical creatures with injuries and a staff with what appeared to be two snakes shifting and moving about wielded by a gorgeous woman. As she walked by the creatures she would tap them with the staff and the wounds they had would be healed.

After being guided to a seat, Flitwick disappeared into another set of doors, this time tinted heavily blocking the ability to see past them. A few moments later a woman walked back out with him introducing herself as Madam Pomfrey the school's resident Nurse.

They were soon joined by Professor Dumbledore, who asked to be caught up with a frown on his face. He was first informed that Harry would be just fine, but the wound may scar over as it was a magic infused wound. Harry looked rather nervous and wouldn't meet any of their eyes. He shifted uncomfortably on the bed he was sitting on.

After being assured he wouldn't be punished several times over Harry reluctantly told them the story of his annoyance and outright anger that the spell would not work. How he had seemingly delved deep inside himself and saw a strange pond of water. He then recounted that a ripple seemed to run across the water from where he stood and then he felt something. Here Harry struggled for a word.

"Energetic?" Dumbledore's voice cut out across the silence.

"Yes, that's it, energetic like I could run all day long and not even be tired after. After that everything seemed so natural, I said the words, did the wand movements, and let all that energy go. Professor Flitwick had said that the more energy you put into it the more obvious the effect would be and my first attempts didn't do anything so I figured this was the correct way." Harry finished quickly ducking his head.

The three adults shared looks between themselves, and after some muttered talking that Harry somehow couldn't hear even though they were right there. They separated then, Nurse Pomfrey bustling back to her office after letting him know that he was good to go back to his classes. Flitwick and Dumbledore both motioned for him to walk with them.

"As the class is about to end, I will release you into the Headmaster's care, Mister Potter. Twenty points to Gryffindor as well Harry, very few people can raise the feather on the first day, none are able to harden it and impale it into a stone block. I expect great things from you Mister Potter. Your mother was one of my personal favorites and studied under me for her Mastery." With those closing words, he disappeared down the stairs back towards the classroom he had come from.

"If I am not mistaken you have a free period next Harry, if you wouldn't mind I would appreciate it if you were to spend a few minutes with me," Dumbledore said as he led him back towards his office. Once they were situated inside he continued.

"Now then, I had meant to get you later in the day to speak with you, but this has presented an opportunity so I will simply cover it now..." Dumbledore stated simply as he sat in his high backed chair looking at Harry.

"In the future, you will be expected to join the government, as a Noble Lord. It is my job as your Magical Guardian to prepare you for this. As such, I wanted to ask you if you would be open to having some of your open periods appropriated into lessons for your future. You, of course, do not need to make this choice now, I intend to allow you to see if you feel you can handle the pressure of your work outside of class before cutting that time down." Dumbledore stated as he showed Harry several books he may be learning from.

Harry thought about this information for several minutes before steeling himself and deciding he wouldn't let one of the only people who has attempted to help him down.

"No need to wait, sir, I will agree to the extra classes now. I do have one question before I return to classes. I've heard the term Magical Guardian a lot lately, and I'm afraid I don't know the meaning of the term." Harry stated boldly, his body language clearly stating that he was moving forward in this.

"Very astute Harry, a Magical Guardian is someone who is supposed to help you prepare and succeed in the magical world. They are also responsible for your safety which is why I was called to the infirmary when you had been hurt. Generally, the Magical Guardian is also your standard Guardian, but due to your unique circumstances, your muggle guardians USED to be your standard guardians, however after learning what we have I am currently attempting to have that changed. Now Harry if there is nothing else you are hereby released to go. I will have Minerva contact you when your extra classes are ready." He stated as he handed Harry a note that stated he could roam the halls.


	5. On the Hunt: Reactionary

Harry grimaced as he followed the stern Professor McGonagall through the halls of the castle. She hadn't spoken to him yet except for the shouted "MISTER POTTER!" When she had gathered him from the grounds during his flying practice lesson. He really had not been sure what else to do when that git Malfoy had made off with Neville's Rememberall. She was cutting a very quick pace through the halls and she appeared to be going very high up in the tower leading him on a twisting journey. This gave him plenty of time to reflect on how everything had lead up to this.

He supposed the first place to start was the extra lessons he had been attending with Headmaster Dumbledore. They covered a wide variety of subjects very lightly so that Harry could understand at least in a very broad sense what all would be covered. The list was... extensive if he was honest. Politics, House Standing, Political History, Etiquette, Magical Theory, in more depth than the base classes, Lore of the Wizarding World. The list still made Harry's head spin with how much he was earning. He had spent a lot of time into the night reading up on books and theory so he could keep up with Professor Dumbledore during their talks.

One of the first things they had covered was Harry's SMCR. By Harry's understanding, it was a fairly simple test as far as Harry had been concerned. He was to choose a spell from a list of pre-approved ones he would be instructed in its wand movement and incantation for thirty minutes. He would then cast the spell ten times. Each time with a harder variable involved. After being handed the list by Dumbledore Harry had glanced at some of the spells on the list including Expelliarmus, Lumos, which he had already learned in charms, Diffindo and finally the one Harry had actually chosen Accio. A charm he would normally not learn until his third or fourth year, but was simple in theory.

After making his choice and practicing for the time he was allotted, he was informed that normally as Ministry Official would be present, but as Dumbledore was an officiate they wouldn't have to wait for that. They moved down to the Great Hall where Harry watched as the tables were separated and a series of lines were drawn in what appeared to be chalk along the floor at increasingly large intervals. He was instructed to attempt to summon the small glass balls that Dumbledore had transfigured out of thin air. Each ball was roughly the same size as far as Harry could tell, and each was laid on a different line stretching all the way to the end of the hall.

Harry took a moment to look at the lines down the hall and attempt to gauge how much magic he would need to use. The first line was one foot from Harry's feet, the second was roughly five feet past that, the third was ten feet beyond that the fourth was thirty feet beyond that. The final line was on the other side of the Great Hall at roughly five-hundred feet away. Dumbledore stood off to one side and instructed that he should attempt to summon each individual ball in a way that would bring it to him quickly and place it directly into his palm. If he broke any of the glass balls he would lose points, if he failed to summon any ball he would lose points and a few other rules Harry absorbed quickly. The number of points he earned and lost would then be combined out of a total which Harry would then be rated at how strong his magic was at his current age versus a baseline that the Ministry believed was average along with those of others his age who had taken the same test.

Harry stood in a fairly relaxed state trying to calm himself as he mentally prepared for the test to begin. There was no time limit and he would be allowed to say when he was done, but it still unnerved him to be all alone here in the normally full Great Hall.

Harry looked at the first ball and tapped into the pool of water he had seen as his magic. The world seemed to slow down as the words fell from his lips, and suddenly the ball was moving towards his open palm where it slapped loudly against his skin but he held onto it firmly. The ball glowed brightly for a second before it disappeared. The same was true of the second and third except lacking the force of the first casting. Each time Harry was barely aware of the ball and he had to react fairly quickly to catch it and keep a firm grasp. The fourth, fifth, and sixth lines proved harder and he had to put a lot more into the spell, yet he still succeeded. However he could feel himself sweating and panting slightly the drain was catching up with him very quickly. The seventh line took him nearly five minutes to summon from as he slowly poured more and more power into the spell and when it finally did come it was fairly slow-moving plopping into his palm with a light smack. The eighth line took three minutes since Harry had a bit of a gauge to base his expenditure on. At this point, Dumbledore spoke out loudly

"Well done my boy, less than nine percent of children can summon the sixth line. The number for the seventh and eighth is even lower. If you wish to stop it would be more than adequate." Dumbledore was honestly ecstatic young Harry's torturous youth appeared to have not affected his magic at all and indeed he did appear to be a very magically gifted child.

Harry was bent over hands on knees trying to catch his breath. Each time he managed to summon the small glass balls his pool of water got smaller and smaller. The banks of his little pond were smooth and formed a perfect circle at the bottom he noticed. The water was low now less than ten percent filled, but there was still enough water to try and it seemed to be refilling slowly. He frowned if this test was to measure his ability he needed to do the best he could.

He stood up suddenly pointed his wand at the ninth circle and yelled the word "Accio" with a great deal of force. Dumbledore who was already halfway to Harry let out a shocked gasp as the ball wobbled on the line and then shot towards Harry at an incredible speed encased in a purple haze of energy. The boy brought his hand up and the ball slowed as it neared him from nearly four-hundred feet away.. The impressive bit of spell work was crowned by the fine control that left the ball resting right in front of Harry who reached out and took it before it, like all the others, lit up and then turned to smoke the purple haze fading out of existence a moment later. Dumbledore stood shocked still as the mist slowly faded into the surrounding air.

"That's it, sir. I can't do anymore." Harry let out in a mumble and indeed he did look worse for wear, he was slouched down, pale in the face, and sweat had broken out in droves across his forehead his black unruly hair was plastered to his forehead.

"That is quite alright Harry I don't think any child has ever actually summoned the ninth ball and I must admit it takes a non-insignificant part of my power to summon the ninth ball as well," Dumbledore said as he swept his hand through the air and the lines and one remaining ball disappeared as well as the tables moved back into their original position.

From there they headed back up to Dumbledore's office. It had been almost two hours since they had begun and Harry was drained and feeling very tired. As they sat and Harry caught his breath Dumbledore placed his wand tip to his temple and slowly drew it away. As he did so what looked like silvery spider web came away with it that flashed and shown in the light. After a few moments of doing this, he had what looked like a foot-long section of spider web which he placed inside a small vial.

"This, young Harry, is a memory of what just happened over the duration of your test. I will be sending it off to the Ministry so that you may be measured and provided your placement. Though I am very confident that you will be placed in the top percent of all students, it is a requirement of my overview of your examination that I send this in."

Harry left not long after that with a note excusing him from any spell casting for the rest of the day. He went straight back to his dorm and collapsed into one of the padded chairs where he was later woken up by Ron. He explained what had happened to him to both Ron and Hermione, who joined them a few moments later, and was met with a "Blimey Mate" and Hermione setting off into an explanation of the history of what he had done that afternoon, her voice slowly lulling him back to sleep as his body protested being awake.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ Did Someone Say Slight Time Skip? ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

The next few days were... interesting to say the least. Harry met with Dumbledore several times during the numerous free periods he had. There he was introduced and given a crash course on how British Magical Society viewed him and his. The Noble Lords of the Wizengamot were like Parliament with specific rules and regulations that needed to be followed. He would one day at his majority, which could fluctuate anywhere from his thirteenth birthday all the way up to his seventeenth birthday, depending on what his family charter had for provisions should the current Head of House fall to a minor. Something that Dumbledore was unable to access without him also being present to view it as it had several specific Potter only sections that only Harry could see. The deal would be, he guessed, that Dumbledore would be there to interpret what was written and Harry would basically have to read it off to him so that Dumbledore would know the correct path to lead Harry down so that he could follow in his family's footsteps when the correct time came. This also came with other things like the family properties reopening and the full use of his bank vaults along with anything secret the Potters may have left behind for him. Dumbledore has let him know that the Potters were a very secretive family not letting any knowledge about what they had leaked out. They were also well known to be fiercely defensive of their things and the people they had chosen as "their" people, an example being his father's friends of which Dumbledore promised he would tell him about later.

Finally coming up to earlier today they had been called out to the quidditch pitch to be shown brooms and how to summon and mount them appropriately, after some rather simple instructions several people had managed to summon their brooms to their hands from the ground. It was at this point Neville Longbottom, due to a malfunctioning broom, was launched off into the air and soon fell with a dull thud and a cry claiming his arm had been broken.

They had been instructed to stand there and wait and Harry was more than happy enough to do so conversing with Ron about a professional Quidditch team that he was interested in. When he heard Malfoy boasting about how Neville had dropped something and he was going to hide it he sighed and began moving. Harry watched as he flew high into the air and looked around exaggeratedly. The crowd were all focusing on Malfoy and no one was paying him any attention so he pulled out his wand and focused, whispering. Ron saw what Harry was doing and moved in front of him blocking him from view.

"Accio Neville's Rememberall" He felt the drain and a sudden shortness of breath but otherwise was quite happy when the ball was snatched from Malfoy's hands. Unfortunately, Malfoy saw this and managed to smack it in a futile attempt to grab the ball as it left his hand, launching the ball far off course where Harry was sure it would break upon landing. With very fast reflexes Harry kicked off the ground half mounted on his broom and launched himself after the swiftly falling ball. He was absolutely soaring through the air at an incredible speed, but he quickly realized he still wasn't going to be fast enough. He gripped one hand onto the broom handle guiding him ever forward and the other wrapped around his wand as he announced loud enough for everyone to hear "ACCIO REMEBERALL!"

The ball stopped moving in the air easily one hundred and fifty feet from where Harry was and then shot off towards Harry. Malfoy squawked loudly as the ball nearly clipped him in his attempt to go back towards the ground. Harry had to dive hard to grab the ball before it hit the ground due to his miscalculating how much power to use, but he had managed to catch it either way. Unfortunately, the shouting and cheers from the students quieted as McGonagall had come out to the field yelling his name.

Back to the Present Harry was in front of Dumbledore's office and was awaiting his punishment as he climbed the long spiraling staircase. He mutedly realized that he didn't even remember the path they took to get here. He was sure they had been going higher up in the castle but at some point it appeared he had gotten turned around.


	6. Setting the Stage

After about ten or fifteen seconds Professor Dumbledore invited them in and Harry watched as his face shifted a few times throughout Minerva's story of Harry using advanced magic and rule-breaking. The story included several other things that even Harry himself had not noticed such as one of the students running to find a teacher to make sure that Malfoy would also get in trouble if there was any punishment doled out, about how Harry was trying to do the right thing and if he could not be punished oh that would be so wonderful. Harry had a sneaking suspicion it was Hermione based off of that last sentence sounding suspiciously like her, and when he caught a look at McGonagall who had what looked like a smirk on her face he reaffirmed his thought. Definitely Hermione then. He would have to do something nice for her maybe some sort of cat toy for Crookshanks. Thoughts for a different time he internalized before bringing his focus back to the two teachers in front of him. They were both smiling and talking about his Dad! He listened more attentively now and heard the tail end of a story about James rushing up to Professor Dumbledore on his broom as the Snitch flew over his head yelling his apology along the way. Both of the professors laughed for a few moments before they turned to Harry

"Well, my boy I don't think any punishment has to be rendered to you for this mishap however next time please try and stay out of trouble, hmmm?" Professor Dumbledore spoke in a gentle tone something Harry realized may be altogether normal for him.

"As for Mister Malfoy I will speak with Severus about what is expected of students who attend this school and if anyone asks you will be serving separate detentions do to my thought that putting you together may cause more harm than good. Rivalry while a strong motivator is not always the best path forward young Harry remember that in the future." He spoke once again looking past Harry and McGonagall to something neither of them saw lost in thought.

He was excused from the office after a few more minutes with a note saying that he was allowed to be out in the halls. He made it most of the way to the Great Hall for lunch when he was caught by surprise by someone tackling him into a hug. After his shock had worn off and he had a moment to take in what was happening he smiled as he wrapped his hands around the person now identified as Hermione.

"Hermione thank you for fetching Professor McGonagall, I don't know how I'll make it up to you but I swear I will. I owe you seriously! I mean who knows what may have happened if someone else had seen me." Harry spoke casually as he tried to steer them out of the way of the main drag of students. They had already stopped some of the foot traffic and he was beginning to get odd looks from upperclassmen from his house and others alike. After maneuvering for a few moments they had made it into a side alcove that offered them a little protection from the looks they had been receiving.

"Oh Harry, I was so worried that Malfoy would try something underhanded that I took off as soon as you jumped on your broom." She squeaked out as she felt him hug her back. She was just a bit shorter than he was and his arms wrapping around her sort of reminded her of how her dad hugged her by getting down on one knee. It felt so good to be hugged like this. She nudged her head into his chest and stayed like that for a few seconds before separating from him with a flush across her cheeks. She stuttered out a quick apology before motioning that they should head to the Great Hall.

The rest of the day went without much more excitement than that and as Harry sat in one of the great burgundy stuffed chairs in the common room playing chess with Ron while listening to Hermione he really only had one thought. "Man I really liked flying like that. The wind, the adrenaline, the speed. Maybe I should try for the quidditch team next year?" It was quiet, but Hermione and Ron both heard him and told him they thought it would be interesting for sure

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The next week passed without much note. Malfoy attempted to get Harry to duel him in the trophy room as a way to settle their disputes. Harry turned him down, however, stating

"Underage dueling is illegal unless there is a proctor nearby Malfoy." He was quoting a book called "Magical Etiquette and Behavior for Young Lords". The look he got from Malfoy was a mix between shock and it was hard to make out, but it looked like begrudging respect. Harry went through classes very well earning high marks all the way through the beginning of October into the middling weeks with positive reviews from all of his professors except Snape who treated him lukewarm at best.

Harry grimaced thinking about Professor Snape. He had not taken well to Harry even though he had been trying his hardest. He had answered a few questions from the man and made extra sure to prepare his potions with the utmost care and the best he ever got out of the ordeal was a scowl and muttered comments such as

"Passable Potter, perhaps you inherited more of your mother's brains than your fathers." It was muttered in such a way that only Harry who was at Snape's desk turning in his potion had heard him and Snape had refused to look him in the eye or even look up from his note-taking. Harry had made his way back to his seat with a small grin on his face that he refused to explain for the rest of the lesson.

Harry set himself apart in his other classes through sheer brute force and trial and error. Ron sometimes called him Barmy as he used a lot of the free time they were given to practice hard and often on the spells they were being taught. Eventually, after much good-natured ribbing from Harry Ron started to practice with him, nowhere near his amount of effort or his time put in mind you but it was a start. The hard work he was putting in showed in class as he was rocketing to the top of his year grades wise. He was coming up near the top of the class with several other prominent names that were distinguishing themselves as well such as Susan Bones, Daphne Greengrass, Blaise Zabini. Thankfully there were no more incidents with hardened feathers stuck in ancient stone blocks, though from what Professor Flitwick had said when he had asked about it he was informed that it would stay as a memorial to the first student to ever manage the feat he had. Harry wasn't sure whether he should be proud or embarrassed by this so he ducked his head and muttered a quick thanks to the professor before making his way out of the charms classroom catching up with his friends.

As time crept slowly forward to the end of October Harry's mood soured and he became rather standoffish. When finally confronted about it, by Malfoy of all people, he snapped out a furious

"How would you feel Draco, if your mother and father that you love so dearly, that are the light of your life, are killed off and the few memories you have of them are then spit on by your living relatives as soon as you are able to more fully understand what happened to them. That their death is celebrated as a holiday? So yes I think I will be angry at the world for a few days around this time of year, and if anyone has a problem with it then they are invited to shove it."

Harry skipped his next class, also the last class of the day, to be alone. He wandered the school until he found himself in the forbidden corridor with all the stairs moving away from him. He thought there may be another stairwell on the far side of the hall all he had to do was not "Die a Terrible and Gruesome Death" as Headmaster Dumbledore had put it so lightly. He made it most of the way down the hall before he heard what sounded like great loud snoring coming from behind one of the doors. He looked both ways and determined that he was alone before bending down to peer through the keyhole of the door. What he saw on the other side amazed him. It was a Cerberus! An actual living Cerberus like the ones from Greek myths.

"Is that a portal to Hell it's sitting on then?" He wondered aloud as he managed a brief peek at what looked like a pull-up door under the dog. Speaking of the great dog it was laying there on its back seemingly dreaming while kicking its legs in the air repeatedly. So this was what the Headmaster had meant when he warned that students shouldn't go exploring this corridor, after all a portal to Hell in the middle of the school would surely give someone a death that was so eloquently described earlier.

Harry hurried on his way from the hallway to somewhere where he could think about what time of year it was. He wandered for a long time eventually ending up at the Owlery where his beautiful Hedwig graced him with her presence. She sat with him for an hour or so as he looked out over the grounds of the school and just existed.

Ron found him first surprisingly. All cooped up in the Owlery shivering with the cold but not caring one way or the other.

"Hey Mate, I noticed you weren't in class and went searching for you. Some of the portraits were bloody well helpful in pointing me toward you. Come on we can go relax in one of the classrooms on the seventh floor if you don't want to deal with anyone else." Ron tugged his shoulder slightly and Harry stood. He said his farewell to Hedwig who nipped his ear affectionately before flying off to sit next to a rather large Black-crested owl in the upper rafters.

Harry let himself be lead down the winding staircase his hand running across the ancient stone of the castle while he continued to let his mind drift out, before long he became aware that they had stopped at a classroom that he hadn't noticed before. He didn't much care right then however and glanced inside as Ron opened the door. It was an empty classroom that he wasn't terribly surprised to see Hermione sitting in looking out the bank of windows to the grounds.

"I found him up in the Owlery Hermione looks half frozen he does," Ron said as he opened the door wider allowing Harry to enter the room fully. It was a fairly standard classroom blackboard at the front, large array of desks, some shelving in the back that if Harry Had to Guess contained extra school supplies if they were needed. He made his way to one of the desks and sat down on it.

"Its hard you know, coming into all this knowledge and information about what is and what should have been. More than that it's knowing that I had a family that was taken from me and it was all because of a war that people don't even know about." Harry let out with a sigh. Hermione turned from the windows and Ron moved closer to him.

They stayed in the room for a few hours just talking and Harry really did feel better after they left. He caught a little flak the next day for not having gone to Herbology but he made up for it with Professor Sprout, A wonderful woman who seemed to have the ability to make anything grow. It involved him offering to replant some of the more dangerous plants as extra credit while the class worked on easier plants, but Harry didn't care much. Neville was next to him and he seemed to be nice and calm so Harry just copied what he saw Neville doing. When asked if he had done this before by Professor Sprout he spoke with some surprise in his voice,

"Oh well, Neville doesn't seem scared or upset, so I figured if I copied him it would work out okay." Neville heard this and flushed and mumbled something, but it was drown out by Professor Sprout shouting at someone and running over to them.

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The night of the thirty-first came quickly. As Harry was making his way to the Great Hall from the Common Room he looked for Hermione who had begged off hanging out to go to the library earlier. He spotted her at right about the same time he heard Pansy Parkinson, a particularly rude first-year Slytherin girl Harry had had the displeasure of partnering with one potions class, letting out a laugh and seeing Hermione run off.

He turned to her before he left already preparing to go catch Hermione " You know have you ever considered that just maybe, you make fun of others to hide how much of a piece of garbage you are?" he bit out at her. He didn't stay to see her expression already fighting the crowds trying to catch back up to Hermione. He finally did as she closed the door to a bathroom. He waited just a few minutes before knocking.

"Hermione? Are you okay?" He earnestly called out. His hand was on the door handle, but he dared not to turn it as it was a woman's bathroom. He had made that mistake once as a child and had been thrown in the cupboard for two days with no food for it.

"Oh Harry, she is just so horrible. I didn't want anyone to see me so upset. Go ahead and head back to the feast, I'll be there in just a few minutes." Hermione's voice came across the doorway. It sounded shaky and strained. Harry frowned as he thought about it. He couldn't just let her stay here alone when she obviously needed help. He was a Gryffindor he was in the house of the brave!

He summoned up some courage and felt his magic sort of tense up as he knocked once and pushed the door open while saying

"Hermione I'm coming in."

Hermione let out a shaky breath as she saw Harry enter the bathroom, and make his way over to her. He stayed a respectable distance away and just stood there a comforting presence as she ran some water splashing her face. She was just about to tell Harry she was ready to head back when they both turned in surprise as they heard something large coming their way. Suddenly the door burst open and...


	7. Executing the Plan

To say that Harry was surprised at the hulking beast before him was an understatement and to say that Hermione let out a small sound would be an understatement of similar origin and scale. The near shriek drew the creature's attention very quickly and it did not look very happy to see them. It butted its head into the room they were in several times before it disappeared and then reappeared breaking the doorway along the way with its hefty girth.

"Hermione, we need to run." Harry whispered to her as he tried to remain calm, it wasn't easy, but he knew that they needed to think smart here or neither of them would make it out of this bathroom alive. Glancing sidelong at her he saw that she was frozen up in terror, a normal reaction for most anyone their age. Harry wasn't a normal person their age though; He had been beaten and hunted for far to long to just freeze he knew his best chance at not catching a beating was not being where the beating would take place.

Hermione was indeed frozen looking at the creature before her. She knew what it was and that was what made her so terrified an Eastern Woodlands Troll, known for their fierce strength and regenerative abilities these creatures made their dens in deep forests and ate anything that was to stupid to wander near their homes which normally consisted of random caves or hills. She let out a whimper as the troll made it more fully inside the room dragging a large club behind it that it wielded easily. It was not necessarily a club more of what looked like a giant tree branch easily as thick around at the end as Hermione and Harry standing together. Getting hit by that thing would probably kill them easily she thought to herself.

"Harry we can't fight that thing, we wouldn't even be able to hurt it with anything we know now." She whispered back as she pushed him slightly towards the stalls.

Harry took her prompting with surprising grace sliding his feet quietly over the tile floor while trying to not draw the attention of the beast in front of them.

Meanwhile the troll had smelled something and was terribly hungry. Normally it would just eat anything in front of it, but it didn't see any of its normal food here. There were blue things and a shiny water like surface hanging form the wall and the two little creatures huddling together moving toward the blue things. "It didn't very well like that" it thought to itself "after all that was were the sweet scent it had followed was." It let its displeasure be known by letting out a bestial roar to let the things know it was in charge.

Harry shook from the ghastly sound the troll had just let out and noticed Hermione freeze up behind him as he kept inching towards the stalls, he pulled on her sleeve lightly to keep her moving.

The troll still wasn't happy that the things were moving. They should be still! It thought as it swung its favorite tree stick at the ground making a loud boom and spreading sharp bits of rock outwards. It had worked once when a gryphon had come near its den and was snooping around. Maybe it would work now to make them scared.

Harry moved in front of Hermione as the tile on the floor shattered and rained down on them like shrapnel. It hit him with some force in the back forcing him to let out a grunt, but more importantly he made sure Hermione wouldn't be hit by it. He was used to taking beatings so surely it would be easier on him that it would be on her.

The troll was happy! It had scared the little things and they weren't moving now. Now if only it could find what smelled so tasty. It began ambling forward toward the blue boxes following its nose.

Hermione shook quietly with a hand over her mouth to stop the sound of her crying, once she took a few breaths she looked past Harry at the troll. It didn't seem interested in them terribly much it seemed much more interested in the stalls.

"Harry maybe we were moving towards where it wanted to go if we back away we may be able to get around it." She whispered to him as she ducked under his arm and began moving in the other direction. She didn't make it far before she heard a crash of splintering wood behind her and she suddenly felt herself being tackled and sliding along the floor. When she turned back, she saw Harry on top of her but more importantly she saw that the troll had smashed the first stall apparently dissatisfied with what it had found.

"Stupid empty box" the troll thought "deserved to get smash" it had been very angry that nothing was in the box. Maybe next box had delicious smell. It ambled forward intent on looking at the next large blue box with a push of its hand what remained of the wall to the next stall fell over. It stuck its head in the space and sniffed around for the sweet smell

"Hermione crawl!" Harry's voice was urgent but quiet and very commanding, she felt her face flush a bit but did as she was told and started rapidly crawling toward the door, she was ten feet away thinking that they would make it when the door burst open revealing Ron who was shouting.

"HERMIONE HARRY WE'VE GOT TO GO THERE'S A TROLL DOW…" The words died on his tongue as he took in the destroyed room the terrible smell and more importantly the fourteen-foot-tall giant troll with a wooden club that had just turned and looked at him.

"Oh bugger" he said as he ducked just in time for a piece of what looked like a smashed toilet to sail through the air where his chest had just been. His new position allowed him to see Harry and Hermione on the floor crawling towards him with great speed. Or at least they were before Harry stood up and started shouting things and waving his arms.

"HEY UGLY, OVER HERE. OY YOU STUPID MONSTER!" Harry was waving his hands around wildly and it was getting the desired result, the troll had turned toward him and snarled at him instead of looking at Hermione who was still very quickly crawling towards the door or Ron who was crouched in the doorframe.

" Harry you'll get yourself killed!" Hermione hissed at him, but he didn't much care at the moment he was to busy keeping eye contact with the troll. He had read that some creatures took it as a challenge if you looked away from them one of the times he had hidden in the library from Dudley and his friends. He hoped that was true now as he kicked at Hermione's feet with the back of his shoe urging her onward.

Ron seeing what Harry was doing moved forward also telling Hermione to get out of there. He made his way towards Harry quickly. " Plan?" Ron whispered as he also made a big show of waving his arms and shouting.

"Don't have one, kind of just rolling with it." Harry said back in between yells.

The troll was so confused it just wanted the sweet smell in the room and these little things were making so much noise its head was hurting, and it was hungry. Maybe if he smashed them it would stop making noise? The troll swung its long branch at both loud yelling things. The red one ducked under his swing the black topped one moved closer. Clearly it was challenging him! He wouldn't lose not with such a sweet smell around to motivate him. It let out another guttural roar before charging the black topped one.

Harry watched as the beast charged at him across the length of the bathroom, he had maybe two seconds before it was going to be on top of him. He had an idea, it was crazy and suicidal, but this entire situation was suicidal so what else was new.

"Ron MOVE." Harry yelled before swinging his wand in the gesture he had learned from his magical aptitude test. He found himself looking at the pool of water again, it seemed a little less than full but with what Harry had in mind he didn't really care how full it was, it would have to do.

"ACCIO TROLL" the words left his mouth quickly and he felt light headed as the pool kept shrinking and shrinking nearly drying out before it stopped with maybe a cup of water left and suddenly there was a very large fourteen-foot-tall probably five-hundred-pound troll flying at him. He dropped to his stomach as fast as he could trying to get under the thing and he succeeded! What he didn't expect was that it would be holding its club with such a slack grip letting it drag across the ground.

The club in question slammed into Harry at a remarkably speed and he was certain he heard his ribs crack. He was also aware of the way his head had cracked when he made contact with the same wall that the troll was now leaning against. Blood poured from a head wound the troll had gained from slamming into the wall at great speed and pooled under Harry as his vision swam and then went dark.

Hermione was on her back in the doorway looking at the now unconscious Harry and what she assumed was a dead troll. "How had he done that?" Trolls were supposed to be highly resistant to magic she thought as she heard running behind her. She didn't have much time to think about it before Professor McGonagall appeared before her and was pulling her to her feet, not long after Dumbledore, Snape, Sprout, and Flitwick also entered her vision. She was having a hard time keeping her eyes open, she felt so tired now, her eyes closed and she slumped to the ground with single word muttered. "…Harry."

"Poor girl must have fainted once she realized she wasn't going to die." Professor Sprout said as she took Hermione's weight before she actually touched the ground.

"PROFESSORS! HARRY IS UNDER THAT THING!" Ron shouted from where he had thrown himself near the crushed stalls. He staggered towards them pointing at the rapidly expanding pool of blood near the corner of the bathroom. He made it most of the way to them before being stopped at the urgency in the shout Professor Dumbledore commanded. He felt a powerful rush of magic in the area while hearing the words "Wingardium Summa". He barely understood what was happening before suddenly the giant troll was floating in the air near the ceiling and Harry could be seen slumped face down in the pool of blood.

Flitwick barely hesitated before stating "Mobilicorpus" and Harry's body slowly floated over to him. "He's breathing Albus, Minerva." He said with much relief as he noticed Harry's chest moving slowly up and down. He didn't stick around long running out of the bathroom Harry's body quickly following behind him.

Ron looked around and seeing that everything was okay slumped against the wall and heaved a great breath. "They weren't at the feast, so I went looking for them as soon as the announcement that the troll was loose. I just wanted to make sure they were okay…" Was all he muttered. The Professor's looked at each other saying nothing at all.

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Harry awoke two days later to something wet hitting his face, he opened his eyes and flinched backwards into the bed when he realized someone was to close. He relaxed slightly when he saw the unmistakable form of Hermione's hair and face with tears in her eyes as she cried over him.

"Harry you're awake!" She shouted her voice was cracking and rough from her crying, but Harry grabbed her in a hug before she even had a second to think about it. He let out a pained grunt and let go of her immediately after however.

"I was so worried about you Hermione! Did Ron make it, where is he? What happened to the troll? Are we in trouble? Did they yell at you?" He shot out in rapid fire and then took a deep rattling breath at the pain that came from it. Finally looked down at himself he noticed his chest had bandages wrapped around it that had strange writing along them. He moved his hand toward them only to flinch back when a sharp voice said.

"MR. POTTER YOU TOUCH THOSE BANDAGES AND I WILL RESTRAIN YOU!" the booming voice of Miss Pomfrey reprimanded him. She was suddenly in his view muttering spells under her breath and moving her wand across his chest and head.

"You are quite lucky Mister Potter few can say they have battled a Forest Troll in its maturity and walked away with simply a cracked skull and three broken ribs." Her voice was surly and sour sounding, but Harry didn't much mind. "Professor Dumbledore will be here in a few moments I suggest you ready yourself for questioning because I assure you, he has many."

True to her word Professor Dumbledore appeared not five minutes later asking after his health and what exactly had happened. He tried to minimize his own part, but it was clear that Dumbledore didn't quite believe what he was saying and when he looked confusedly at Hermione her face was bright red and she was looking down… So, Hermione had told her version of the story already he surmised. He answered a few questions about what had happened in more detail when prompted. It was explained to him that he had killed the beast with the head wound he inflicted upon it. He felt a strange feeling in his chest that he chose not to dwell on, but it felt… good he supposed to know it wouldn't hurt anyone else. It was explained to him that he had drained most of his magical core to actually have his magic affect the normally resistant magical creature and the injuries along with his magical exhaustion had forced him into a coma of sorts.

"What will happen to the beast now professor?" harry questioned after he had answered everything that had been asked of him.

Dumbledore looked at him in some surprise before answering slowly. "The troll will be harvested for its magical parts and sold. The money will be put in the Potter Family Vault as you were the one to kill it.

Harry fell silent at this observation he didn't really know how to think of that, he hadn't meant to kill it, he thought maybe if he had it hit its head hard enough it would knock itself out.

"Mr. Potter when you are released make your way to my office, we have a few more things we will need to discuss I see, but worry not, neither of your friends were seriously hurt and none of you will be punished. In fact, Ron was awarded five points for outstanding bravery and loyalty to his friends and you will be gifted thirty for Quick wit and Cunning in dealing with the beast and Bravery with a dash of Loyalty needed to essentially sacrifice yourself so that others might escape." Dumbledore said as he made his way to the shaded door that signified the Matron's Office.

Wingardium Summa-A more powerful form of Wingardium Leviosa. Levitates something in its totality.

Mobilicorpus-Used to move bodies by suspending them in mid-air.


	8. Reaping rewards and consequences

Harry sat looking around the large office once again marveling at the glorious Phoenix that sat before him. Now given the name Fawkes Harry watched as he preened his feathers. His colors looked a little brighter than the last time he had seen him, but perhaps that was just the light in the room reflecting off the glorious bird. His plumage glowed brightly seeming to shift wildly, and after a few seconds Harry realized it was shifting, Fawkes had a small covering of fire that rested against every part of his body, but didn't quite cover his feet, which really explained why the perch he was sitting on hadn't combust into flames yet. As Harry watched he picked up more little details, the flame didn't seem to shift more than a quarter of an inch past the bird, it also didn't seem to put out a significant amount of heat and the colors seemed to shift to compliment the birds color patterns.

That wasn't the only thing Harry had payed attention to either. Professor Dumbledore had been bustling about the room pulling books down and sitting them on his desk. The pile was growing steadily with several tomes that appeared to be quite old. He picked out a few titles that had been turned toward him; Goblins: A History of War, Goblins: What a Young Lord Should Know, Goblins: Claiming What is Yours, Conquest and What it Means to You, a Treaties on Combat in the Wizarding World, Basics of Combat for Beginners. The books were stacked high in front of Harry and he couldn't even read half the titles as they were turned away from him.

"Uhm Professor, I don't know if I'll actually be able to carry all of those if you intend me to learn from them." Harry let out a bit overwhelmed at the actual size of the pile of books. Its not that he didn't want to learn, he actually found that now that he didn't have to worry about Dudley saying he was cheating at school he really liked learning.

"Oh, not to worry Harry I will be performing a special spell that only I as the Headmaster of this school may perform on books that reside here. It is a special occurrence and there will be some paper work involved that you will have to sign but I firmly believe that it will prove beneficial to you." He said as he took out his wand and pulled a book down from a very high shelf with a simple swish of his wand. He placed the last book on the pile and then sat behind his desk. He dug around inside of his desk for a moment before taking out a bundle of papers that appeared to have some dust on them. He blew it away before placing it on the desk next to the pile.

"Now Harry this signing must be witnessed by a representative of the Board of Governors, it will probably take an hour or so for whoever they choose to get here so please make yourself comfortable." Dumbledore said as he shuffled the papers and then stood once again walking over to the fireplace and throwing some blue dust into it. The fire glowed brightly for a few seconds before Dumbledore stuck his head inside of it. Harry was a little worried he would burn himself, but then figured Dumbledore knew what he was doing.

A few moments later Dumbledore removed his head from the fireplace with no burns to show from it. Harry waited a moment for him to retake his seat before asking

"Well sir how did it go?" his voice was clearly searching Dumbledore quickly realized. The thought that he should reassure the boy passed through his mind and he decided to act on it.

"Very well young Harry, A fine woman by the name of Griselda Marchbanks will be here in just an hour with an Auror Representative from the Ministry so that they are included and know that this is happening with due cause." Dumbledore explained happily to him. He spent a few moments shifting the books into an even stack with all the titles facing the same way. Now that Harry could see the spines, he noticed that there were several titles that related to Wealth Management and knowing what was yours or owed to you. Dumbledore noticed his perusal of the titles and spoke up.

"It occurred to me Harry, that you may not have any experience with money management through no fault of your own. This will be a very important part of your future and I would be remiss in myself and my duties if I did not take the opportunity to educate you on this. As your Magical guardian I followed through with your parents last known banking instructions and I must say you will have a lot of money to manage, and that is why I'm adding all of these things to your already full plate. But worry not the spell I intend to cast will make it easy to study in your free time."

Harry had his doubts what kind of spell could make that kind of stack manageable to learn from, but once again he differed to Dumbledore's advanced spell knowledge. He looked around the room again and noticed the sorting hat sitting in a high shelf overlooking the room.

"Ah ha, I wondered when you would notice me, you truly have such a curious mind!" The hat announced in its silky-smooth voice once again. "Come Harry, regale me with some stories." Harry surprised by this request agreed and began telling stories. The hour moved very quickly from that point forward and before he knew it the hat was thanking him and congratulating him about his victory over the troll. It bid him a farewell and then seemed to fall still.

Harry wondered about the hat's creation for a few moments before the roaring of the fire caught him by surprised. He turned around quickly to look at the billowing emerald flames releasing a shorter woman who had a dark polished wooden cane, and a few moments later a taller girl who if Harry had to guess appeared to be seventeen or eighteen followed her through, she wore burgundy robes with a badge on them that had a large stylized AT on them. Her hair was a bright pink and very short, barely reaching her shoulders. Her eyes were a vivid blue that seemed to take in the light from the room easily. She had a short nose and a pale skin tone, that made her seem quite beautiful to Harry. Harry was still taking in everything about her when for just a second, he swore he saw her eyes shift to brown. He blinked several times and when he looked again, they were that same blue as before.

Outside of Harry's perusal of the new people the older lady had begun looking at the books speaking as she did so.

"Dumbledore, I understand you are the boy's Magical Guardian that is correct? And along that same line of thought you are pursuing this under that role and as Headmaster of this school AND as the Supreme Mugwump of the ICU? That is quite the list of titles you are throwing around for this Dumbledore."

Dumbledore simply nodded his head and then stood to greet Griselda like an old friend. He then moved and shook the other woman's hand.

"Introductions are in order firstly Harry. This is Griselda Marchbanks an examiner for the school's major testing and a part of the Board of Governors she is here in that official roll. This other young lady is Auror Trainee Nymphadora Tonks, who if you are smart young Harry you will refer to as just Tonks." Harry shook hands with both of them and introduced himself to them.

"I'd like to thank you both for coming to see if you can approve of helping me. I know it must have taken away from your busy day to come here." Harry said sincerely it was a rarity for anyone to be willing help him except for since he had come here. Honestly, he still wasn't used to it even after being here for an extended period of time.

"Oh, Harry it's no problem I'm actually excited to meet you myself." Tonks replied easily "I would have been stuck behind a desk all day today if it wasn't for this. I'm actually still technically a student here myself, but I work for part of the day at the Ministry for my upcoming job"

"Young man, it will never be any sort of problem for me to come assist a student. Now Dumbledore explain you reasoning, and I will make my judgement." She said in a calm voice firstly looking at Harry and then turning towards Dumbledore

"Very well Griselda, Firstly Harry will ascend to his lord-hood in roughly two to six years, he has through an unfortunate series of events found himself without the necessary knowledge to make effective choices, I am in this endeavor, attempting to patch those holes in his knowledge and this is just one of the steps I have already taken. He already attends extra classes with me to learn basic information, but the knowledge of finance is required for him to make informed decisions, as such I am asking for leave to use the Grimoire Ritual to condense this stack of books into one book bound to Harry himself until such a time as he completes learning it. This is well within previous applications of the ritual and I feel should be allowed."

Griselda adopted a thoughtful expression before taking out an official looking quill and signing the stack of papers several times. Tonks took out her own official looking quill and signed several moments after Griselda

"As the official sent by the Auror Department I hereby grant use of this blood-based ritual and furthermore sign my own name in binding to this contract. As per the contractual obligations of said contract I am hereby informing all parties that I must have a weekly meeting with the owner of this Grimoire to monitor for any faults or issues with the Grimoire Ritual." With a flash of light Tonks turned and grinned at Harry and smiled "All done on our end. Now Dumbledore will need a few drops of your blood, specifically one drop per book meant to be condensed and we can start the lightshow."

Dumbledore stood and spread out the books across his desk leaving room for a section of all the book covers open. He took Harry's hand and placed the tip of his wand against his hand and warned Harry that it would sting slightly. Harry jerked back at the sting but didn't make a noise. He watched in fascination as the blood was pulled from his finger in several individual drops almost like beads on a string. Once it was removed far enough away Harry watched Dumbledore place one drop on each book and then stack them on top of themselves on again.

Dumbledore began chanting and moving his wand in elegant strokes that Harry had a hard time keeping straight as his wand tip swung back and forth through several movements very quickly

"Magicae sunt et sanguis meis me addicam legibus libri ad unum. Et ligabis ea sanguis ad hoc dominus revocare, et quod imperceptable omnibus autem his in hoc current locus. Magicae meis sic fiat semper." With a show of bright lights the books began shrinking and combining until finally there was a book of deep purple in hue with a sword and wand crossed over top of a red shield with a hippogriff's head peeking out over the top of the shield, the words "Per gladius meus: Baculum magicum meis, per me et sermo meus, quae praesidio illius" inscribed across a reef of what looked like parchment scrawling across the bottom of the shield completed the image.

"Well Mr. Potter, this is now yours." Dumbledore said as he passed the book to Harry who took it gingerly. "No one but you and the people currently in this room will be able to see what this book is. To others it will appear to be another random book that they will soon forget about. Tonks will be having weekly meetings with you to make sure the book is holding together well and that you don't have any questions or concerns. To use the book, you must simply open the front cover and select one of the books listed there and the book will fill itself in with the information from that book."

Harry left the room thirty minutes later after saying goodbye to the two women and the Headmaster. He made his way to the library and found a comfortable chair to sit in. He intended to use the rest of his class free day to get a head start on this!

Author's Notes:

This chapter introduces one of my favorite characters Miss Nymphadora who I'm sure if she was here would hit me.

Incantation: By my magic and this blood I bind these books to be one. I bind them to this blood's owner, and I bind them to be imperceptible to all but those current in this room. By my magic so mote it be.

Motto: By my sword, by my wand, by my word I protect that which is mine


	9. Christmas Comes with Suprises

The next few days were a whirlwind of information and events. The Grimoire Harry had with him was insightful to the extreme. When he wanted specific information, it would pull it from all of the available books and present it to him in a nice concise manner. Information seemed to flow into Harry at an unprecedented rate, and by the time the middle of December had rolled around Harry had taken a conservative guess that he was roughly twenty-five percent done with all the books. He had a passing knowledge of Goblins and their history, of finances, though taxes still confused him a great deal, and of the general banking system in place for transfers of Estate and property. The shorthand of which is that Goblins are used as a liaison as their neutrality was legendary, AS LONG AS they were given a percentage of all profits. This was how it had been done for centuries, and it was probably how it would continue for a long time after Harry had disappeared. Several wars had happened when these sorts of deals had broken down and were no longer being followed. The history behind the wars was much more complicated than that, but that was the simplified version.

Other events that had caught Harry's attention had been the Gryffindor vs Slytherin Quidditch match, Harry had gone to the match and cheered for Gryffindor along with the rest of his house. One of the things he had noticed while watching was that Fred and George moved through the air the same way they moved through the crowds of people. Smooth was the best word he could think of to describe it, they moved through the air in arcs, and once he began to pay more attention he realized that while one was far away moving and looking around wildly the other would always be close to one of the three chasers. It made for a very clear defensive line now that Harry had observed it. Next was the way they had used their beater bats to direct the balls if the far one caught a ball, they would launch it towards the one closer to the chasers and he would use it offensively. If it was done in the opposite order it would be launched to the brother farther away and would be used to harry (not the name the word) the other team in a more defensive pattern disrupting their incoming opponents. Due to the speeds at which these things were happening it would be almost impossible for someone in the air to see the pattern amid the chaos.

The celebrations later that night from the victory the team had over Slytherin were the next thing that had caught his attention. It was almost impossible to study anywhere in the tower during the celebrations, but Harry didn't find much reason to study right then. There was laughter and joy and so much greatness going on that he felt himself swept up in the festivities more than once being pulled into games and shouts. As the night was winding down Harry excused himself from the tower, down to the Library. It was there he found a quiet table and began to read. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy celebrating, but after two hours he was starting to get a massive headache and it was just too loud and to crowded with the entirety of the house piling into the common room.

He had been there for maybe twenty minutes when he heard the chair across from him scoot across the floor. When he looked up startled, he saw none other than the freckled face of Susan Bones flushed with embarrassment.

" S-Sorry, I didn't mean to make so much noise." Her voice was low and hard to hear, but Harry's entire attention was on her, so he had no difficulty understanding.

"It's no problem Susan, what are you doing here so late?" He smiled at her over his book "Please take a seat, join me." He finished.

Susan didn't take much time to accept his offer as she sat down and brought out the first year book on Charms from her bag and turned, to Harry's interest, farther than they were in the class. Much farther than they were almost half the book away, in fact!

"Wow Susan you are way farther in the book than we are. How did you get so advanced?" Harry asked with genuine interest. He closed his book fully and sat it off to the side so he could give her the full brunt of his attention. It didn't seem to have the exact correct effects, as instead of encouraging the girl she actually shrunk in on herself hunching down and the previous flush multiplied twice over.

"My family has a predisposition towards charms, and my wand is especially suited to charms work." She mumbled lowly. The words were audible, but just barely and Harry had to strain to hear them. The silence was tense for a few minutes until Susan had calmed down enough to talk to Harry more. In the meantime, Harry had reopened his book and began writing notes down in the margins of the book.

"Harry! How could you!?" Susan's voice was loud and jolted Harry out of his own mind. He jolted up and threw his hands up placatingly.

"Susan, Susan, it's my book, it's not a schoolbook." Harry said quickly. He flipped it around showing a page full of scribbles and notes about goblins and their history. He laid the book down again and explained that it was a book from his own personal vault that Dumbledore had retrieved for him. The lie was made up on the spot and Harry hoped it held.

"Oh, Harry I'm so sorry, I thought you were marking up a schoolbook." The blush was intense now, her entire face, forehead, and most of her neck were bright red now. She looked more like a neon sign than a cute girl now and Harry almost let out a laugh until he thought it may upset her and held back.

The rest of the evening passed uneventfully honestly. They studied for two hours together trading banter between themselves and generally enjoying the time in the library, though they caught some flak from the librarian over their noise level once. Harry bid her a good night as they left the library and he saw her smile a big bright smile at him before swinging down the hallway where he had seen the Badger head earlier in the year. By the time he had made it back upstairs to the tower people were passed out in the common room music was still playing but it was much reduced in volume. He saw Professor McGonagall conjuring blankets over people, and she gave him a soft smile and shooed him off to bed without a word.

It was a few days before Christmas break when Harry was called to Professor Dumbledore's office once again. Outside of his regular scheduled meetings with the man, Harry had very few visits with him so this was especially exciting. He had been learning his history through a number of books he had found in the library along with a few that Hermione had recommended to him so he now understood how important Professor Dumbledore really was. Speaking of Hermione, and Ron also, Harry had become quite good friends with them best friends in fact. Better friends than he had ever made before in fact and that made him really happy. They shared afternoons together sometimes playing chess sometimes reading books and doing schoolwork, but always together and always with lots of laughs.

The steps to the office seemed shorter today, perhaps it was his good mood, perhaps it was the excitement for whatever Dumbledore was going to tell him. He hadn't even made it to the top step when Dumbledore's voice rang out in a loud joyous tone inviting him inside.

As Harry stepped inside Fawkes let out a trill and flapped his great wings once, twice and then he was off flying around the room singing a happy song, before landing on Harry's shoulder. Harry was off balance for a few moments and one step before he realigned himself. After all he was used to Hedwig landing on his shoulder and Fawkes despite his size wasn't that much heavier. He made his way to the large ornate chair that was sitting in front of his desk sitting cattycornered to another chair holding what looked like a very regal looking woman. She had Auburn shaded hair and was wearing a cardigan and a skirt in similar flattering colors. She stood when Harry sat and offered him her hand which Harry took and shook as respectfully as he could.

"Mr. Potter my name is Amelia Bones. I am the Head of the DMLE, which stands for Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Think of me as the Head of Magical Police. Due to a recent uncovering of a partial copy of your parent's Will; I have been asked, and have agreed, to take you in for this winter until such a time that your home life can become more concrete." She stated in a serious voice. After shaking hands Harry almost collapsed into the large chair.

"I won't have to go back to the Dursleys, I won't have to go back to being treated like a freak, or, or, or anything." Harry thought to himself. He was dimly aware of Fawkes leaving his shoulder and sitting on the backrest of the chair he had collapsed into cooing down at him.

"Thank you, thank you so much for opening your home to me, I will try and stay out of your way as much as possible, I don't need a big room just something small will be fine." Harry said in a rush leaning forward.

Amelia glanced at Dumbledore quickly before looking back at Harry "Harry, there will be no need for you to attempt to hide yourself. We have more than enough room to allow you to move freely about the house and spend time with us. I will be taking time from work to make sure there is someone home with you and my niece Susan." She responded slowly.

Dumbledore waited a few moments to make sure there would be no more back and forth before clearing his throat and stating. "As per a few of our last conversations, I have been requesting information about the Potter Vault and I am hoping I will be able to bring you there this coming summer, but one of the things that the Goblins were willing to release was an incomplete will. There was a list of people to whom you would go to, and among the top of the list was the Bones family, which is not that surprising considering that your families have been connected in their pasts more than a few times."

"Connected?" Harry's voice came out in a confused state. How could two families be connected if they weren't together? He knew how cousins worked with different names, but still.

"Yes Harry, the Bones family has intermarried with the Potters a few times in history, along the same line the Potters, Bones, and Abbots have an ongoing business venture together. You may have heard of it before, it is called Butterbeer. Someplace way back in your families' history they all worked together to create the very popular drink". Dumbledore's voice was smooth as if reciting a piece of history he had learned long ago. The meeting was broken up not long after that with Harry being told he would be leaving from Dumbledore's office for Christmas break along with Susan and they would be leaving and returning through the Floo System.

When he was excused Harry bolted to find Hermione and Ron and give them the good news. He found them in that same abandoned classroom he had met them in before. Bursting through the door he exclaimed

"Hermione, Ron great news. I'm going to be staying with the Bones family over break. They've invited me to stay the entire break with Amelia Bones, who is apparently like a policewoman, and Susan who is her niece." Harry panted out.

"Good on you mate, the Bones family are great people, really upstanding folks." Ron said while clapping him on the back. He moved back to the book he was reading, in a much more cheery attitude.

"I've read a few books on family lines while I've been here Harry, and they have a very upstanding history, law enforcers, a long line of upstanding business dealings, and of course being an original line in the Wizengamot, the leading law-body of the magical world in Britain." Hermione said as she excitedly began rooting around for a book in her bags then looked away in disappointment. "I must have returned it to the library already. Sorry Harry."

After a few more minutes of congratulations and happiness they all settled down into their regular routine of studying and joking. The rest of the evening passed without much event other than good memories between friends.

The next day was unfortunately not as good as the previous, it started early with Pansy Parkinson tripping over her own robe and blaming Hermione who was on the far side of the room. Snape didn't even ask he simply assigned her a loss of house points and a warning to not do it again or it would result in detention. For the ever-academic Hermione this was large problem because she had actually yet to lose house points only gain them. She made up for it throughout the day by regaining nearly double the amount she lost and then some; It was easy to tell however that she was not pleased. There was also a short conversation in a secluded corner that Harry wasn't privy to, but when she left Hermione had lost some of the glow in her eyes and McGonagall had looked furious.

Hermione refused to speak on the manner, but she did say something simple and yet quite strange at the same time.

"A dash of salt in my bloody hand may burn me, but that bloody salt in my enemies eye is worth the pain." It made Harry stop and think about what Hermione really felt beneath the book smarts and the random outbursts of happiness. It seemed Hermione may have a note of steel beneath that fluffy exterior.

Boxing Day was the next affair of note in Harry's week. The lead up was interesting itself however. The manor he had been invited to was referred to as "Ossium viribus villam aedificaverat". It was a large building that shinned a beautiful white in the sunlight. It was large, hugely large in fact, multiple rooms and halls running in stretches that boggled Harry's mind. There were only two full occupants of the house: Lady Amelia Bones, with whom he had spent some time discussing his future and prospects. In those discussions he learned that she was a woman of taste and steel who fiercely defended her stand on most topics some of which he didn't even know anything about, but promised he would research them to hold his argument. The other occupant of the house was the ever-shy Susan Bones. Now that she wasn't surrounded by people she seemed to break out of her shell a good bit and engaged Harry in discussions about school work and especially charms which Harry was able to keep up with her somewhat but when she got into theory Harry quickly begged off citing his lack of ability to keep up with someone as smart as she was that always elicited an "Eep" and a deep blush from the girl. Other people came and went in the time Harry spent there including the Abbot family and their daughter Hannah on more than one occasion. When Hannah was there she quickly disappeared with Susan and anytime he came across them all he ever heard was giggling.

The morning of Boxing Day Harry didn't expect any gifts and yet when he walked downstairs guided by a house elf with the name of Boror, he found a small pile with his name on it. He stopped moving then and the poor elf who had been guiding him by the hand jerked itself as it came to a sudden stop.

"Sir, please the others are waiting on you." The elf said in his slightly strange voice.

"Uh, of course, sorry I just never expected to have any gifts here… or at all." Harry replied as he began following again and was led to a couch where he sat down. He sat there looking at the pile of presents lost in his own thoughts. It was only when a light touch on his shoulder made its presence known that he was jolted out of his thoughts. He looked back over his shoulder to see Lady Amelia behind him. "They showed up just a little before five this morning, I was already up drinking my tea when they showed up. I've looked to make sure they aren't dangerous so they're all yours."

He waited respectfully until Susan and Hannah had opened their presents before he moved to his own pile. The gift on top was soft to his touch through the wrapping. When he opened it he found a hand-knit sweater with an H on it. The tag read that it was from Miss Weasley, Ron's mom he realized as he felt it and pulled it on immediately. It was warm and well knit and it made him feel nice. The next gift was a book that much was clear from the wrapping. The name was done in Hermione's fancy crawling scrawl and when he opened it very gingerly, inside was a book with the name "Casting and how to do it smoothly" By flipping open the cover it was clearly a self-help book. Next down was a wrapped square box with Ron's uneven writing. He opened it to find several replacement quills, a straightforward and useful gift. Next down was something from Fred and George their names looping together making it hard to differentiate between them. Inside was what looked like a map with two or three shortcuts highlighted for moving through the castle. This was a huge boon. Harry had complained to them a few times about his trips down to the library taking to long. With this it would take fifteen minutes off his trips each way. The next to last gift was from the Bones' themselves and he looked up shocked at them. They shooed him onward to open the gift and inside was a personalized journal with the Potter coat of arms.

"It's a journal, enchanted to be impervious and water resistant. We didn't know much about your hobbies so we wanted to get you something practical you could use every day if you wanted." Amelia said with a smile. She was taken aback when Harry smiled at her and moved to give her a hug. She accepted of course and hugged him back swiftly. He went to do the same to Susan but stopped before he made it with a blush on his face. He settled for an awkward half hug sort of movement before sitting back down in front of the last gift of his pile. It was a square and he could feel fabric moving on the inside of it, it had Professor Dumbledore's name on it with a simple note that said. "Use it well, your father left it to me before the end and now I return it to its rightful owner. It is a Potter Family Heirloom and is very special". Harry looked around the room at the curious glances before looking back at the package and ripping it open.

Inside was a silky smooth cloak, it seemed to pull and reflect the light in odd ways and when Harry stood up with it he realized that it was much to large for him. Then with naught but a short low flash of light it was then the correct size and shape for him. He attached it at the shoulder clasps and pulled the hood up. He moved around a bit, it felt… right to wear this. It felt like this was something completely natural even though he had never worn one before. He felt his magic thrumming in his chest as the cloak settled over his shoulders.

"It's strange it feels like I was always supposed to be wearing this." Harry thought to himself as he moved behind the couch.

"HARRY! HARRY? Where did you go?" Harry jerked his head around looking right at Susan who was shouting. The others were looking around confusedly and there was a low hysteria starting among the people in the living area.

"He's still here, he hasn't left the premises the wards would have told me." Amelia's voice rang out over the rising chaos. "Harry if you can hear me, I need you to take the hood off of your cloak." Her voice was even and calm. Harry decided he should listen to what she said so he pulled the hood off of the cloak.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know!" His voice came out high and scared as if he was already expecting a punishment. He was struggling with shaking fingers trying to get the cloak off of him.

"It's quite alright Harry. None of us knew. We aren't mad at all." Amelia replied slowly trying to calm the boy down she slowly moved toward him with her hand outstretched to pat him on his shoulder. The boy was still shaking half an hour after the cloak had been removed, and double checked for any devious nature.

"Well Harry apparently the cloak is just an extremely powerful invisibility cloak passed down from your family, nothing scary or dangerous about it at all. Professor Dumbledore will probably talk to you about it when you get back to school." And then in a lower voice that only a few of the adults heard she said, "I definitely will be talking to him about it before then."

English to Latin translation for the Bones family mansion name. "Ossium viribus villam aedificaverat" = Manor Built with the Strength of Bone


	10. Secrets and Mysteries Abound

To say that the rest of the break went without issue was an understatement. Harry reverted into a much more timid person after the incident and basically hid in his room except when Susan could coax him out to talk theory. Lady Amelia Bones was also unhappy in the extreme with the situation. She was downright furious in fact, she had been briefed on Harry's previous situation and to see him reverting like this was a major step backwards. She spent much time attempting to get the boy to open back up and by the end of the break she felt she had made some amount of progress. He was joining them at meals once again, and he stayed around for a bit after even venturing from his room to sit for tea. All of this was reported to Amelia through Susan and the house elves as she had to return to work midway through the holidays due to some serious work coming up. She made time for him to come talk to her if he so pleased, but so far, he had only taken her up on the offer once.

She had spent some time discussing his father in his official capacity as an Auror. He had been an absolute credit to their agency even before he had left school. He was a mad man with transfiguration and had on more than one occasion taken down several enemies by himself alone. There were even whispers that he could rival Dumbledore's skill in the art, as both were some of the only people to ever duel Voldemort single handedly and come out of it not only alive, but semi-victorious. She told stories of James good wit and easy humor, of how he made a room lighter by his presence alone, and how he made a very quick vertical climb through the ranks of the Auror force being a captain before his unfortunate demise.

The boy left that meeting much cheerier than he entered it, and that was the turning point before he calmed down and started rejoining them. While all of this had been going on Susan had been slowly building a rapport with Harry, a solid foundation of friendship that may grow one day. They talked about animals, and charms, transfiguration, and magical history, and so many more topics. By the time Harry was prepared to head back to school Amelia was of the opinion that they were thick as thieves and twice as tricky. Harry, it seemed, had an amazing planning mind, and with Susan's proficiency with charms there were many pranks played, harmless really, but pranks none the less.

As the children stepped through the floo they reappeared a moment later in the Headmaster's office where they both rushed off to the Great Hall for the return feast. Dumbledore himself was preparing to leave when his floo lit up once again and he allowed Lady Amelia Bones through. She brushed the soot from her clothes and sat down in the chair across from Dumbledore's desk with what barely bordered on a scowl on her face. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at her before spreading his hands out giving her the floor to speak her piece.

"I find myself uneasy Dumbledore, with your recent gesture towards Harry." She said as she placed her hands in her handbag. From within she drew out the Potter Family Cloak and sat it on the desk. The look of surprise crossing Dumbledore's face was not missed by Amelia who spoke up immediately.

"You seem surprised that I have the cloak Dumbledore. If you are worrying after my health, then please do not. It is not the first time I have seen the Potter Cloak. James once hid us both under it on a stakeout. He explained even then that for someone who is not a Potter to touch it then they must be given permission or the cloak would simply return to him. I made sure Harry was aware of this and asked if I may hold onto it for our chat." She said quite simply.

"Forgive me Amelia, I sometimes forget I am not the only one who has access to some family secrets outside of my own family." Dumbledore stated as he took the cloak and ran his aged fingers over the fabric. "I understand there was an incident, but you left me with very few details over your owl. Would you be willing to elucidate now that we are in much more secure quarters?"

"Of course, The incident was that Harry being ignorant of the nature of the cloak put it on immediately and pulled up the hood. Due to the nature of the cloak's enchantments everyone in the room who was not trained in Occlumency soon forgot he was there. This led to a general panic and it scared Harry severely. I returned order as swiftly as I could, but the damage was already done. He retreated to his rooms for several days before I could coax him back down with stories of his father. In the future all I ask is that you explain these sorts of things to him before he has a chance to become scared. Oh and if anyone were to hurt the boy you may find yourself with a very angry badger." She said, making many hand motions as she spoke sort of like she was trying to visually lead him through the story.

"Oh my, I appear to have made a grave mistake then. I shall rectify myself with young Harry as soon as I am able." He said as he closed his eyes and bowed his head lightly. He looked back up at her at the mention of her last comment. "Oh really now? Has Harry coaxed another into his fold?" he replied with some mirth.

Amelia let out a humming noise before replying " Indeed, after the incident, Susan became worried and tried very desperately to get Harry to talk to her, at some point she succeeded and now that it has happened, I fear for what the two may be able to come up with. Susan has a bit of her mother's temper, I'm afraid. We also both know about the Potter Magic influencing Harry into the covetous nature of hoarding friends and protecting them."

After a promise from Dumbledore to explain the cloak's powers fully to Harry they traded pleasantries for a few minutes before Amelia excused herself and returned through the floo. Dumbledore stood and made his way down to the feast where he was sure they had already begun. He would have a few announcements before they left, but otherwise not much could go wrong.

The walk down from the fifth floor gave Dumbledore time to think. He was noticing a pattern that would possible give several of the teachers in the building a few more gray hairs. Harry appeared to have unintentionally started gathering a friend group similar to the Marauders. A prodigy with charms and a good moral compass echoed Remus Lupen to a T, but also applied to Susan Bones. A strategist with a penchant to throw himself into danger, well that could very well describe Sirius Black or Ronald Weasley. A brilliant mind filled to the brim with knowledge ready to be picked apart for advice and planning was filled by one Lilly Evans AND one Hermione Granger. It would be something worth keeping an eye on for his own sanity, if not that of his colleagues. He didn't even notice as he walked through the hidden entrance to the Great Hall and sat at the table. He swept his gaze out amongst the crowd making contact with a few student's eyes before he landed on Harry sitting between Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley.

Harry turned around looking about as he felt a chill run down his spine. He calmed after looking around for a minute without seeing anyone looking at him. He returned to his story of what had happened over Winter Hols explaining what had happened and how he had felt to Hermione and Ron.

The feast ended after a time with Dumbledore releasing them after reminding them that the third floor corridor was still not to be treaded upon, and a few other interesting tidbits about clubs and a change to library times.

After the feast had ended and they were led back upstairs to the Gryffindor common room, Harry received a note and package from Headmaster Dumbledore with a list of facts about the cloak which was nestled inside. There was also a promise to meet with Harry at some point and hold a conversation about all of its properties. Harry eagerly showed the note to Hermione and Ron who both wanted to see the cloak in action. It seemed to Harry that the best use of it would be to use it to sneak out after curfew. They would probably only receive a warning for it as they had not gotten into any substantial trouble and it would be an excellent test run he reasoned to both of his compatriots. After only a bit of light arguing they both agreed with the plan.

That evening once everyone had gone off to bed Harry opened the curtains on his four-poster bed and slowly slipped his way down the stairs with Ron right behind him. They met Hermione just after reaching the last step who put a finger to her lips and pointed toward the fire where they could see someone in one of the large chairs asleep with a book in their lap and their head lolling to the side. They all huddled together and Harry threw the cloak over all three of them. Almost as soon as he did it expanded outward to its full size easily covering them. They soon passed through the portrait hole into the halls without anyone knowing any better. They wandered for just a bit covering the floors exploring with Ron cracking jokes and Hermione giggling at them both. The adventure however was short lived as they found themselves in an awkward position. Filch and his cat were on one side of them moving around the end of the corridor now and on the other side they could just make out the shadow of another person. They were stuck! Hermione pointed toward a classroom door that was slightly open and Harry rushed them inside as quietly as possible.

They sat against the door hands over mouths listening as the two voices conversed.

"Argus, remind Hagrid that Dumbledore and myself will need him to come into the school and placate the Cerberus this coming week, as I will need to set up my own trap." The voice was smooth and with looks of horror all three of the students recognized it as belonging to Snape. Harry clamped his own hand over Ron's mouth when he was about to say something.

"Of course Professor. Perhaps you can alleviate some of my concern, if you don't mind of course…" Filch's rough nasally voice replied to him.

There was a brief pause as the two stopped passing each other and stopped just outside the door. They could make out their rough shapes through the glass of the door, but any real detail was lost on the three kids.

"I was just curious why the Headmaster would choose to keep Master Flammel's treasure here at the school. It seems a poor place is all." Filch said filling the silence of the corridor with his question.

"Dark times are ahead of us Argus, Dumbledore wished to keep something that powerful somewhere safe he could keep an eye on it. With Flammel's blessing it is best hidden here in the one place HE would hopefully never be able to penetrate." Snape replied with a bit of venom on the word he.

"So it's true then, the Headmaster believes that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named will return then. Blimey, I suppose I will have to make sure all the of the suits of armor are cleaned up. They're right powerful metal constructs when active, but they tend to rust if left sitting for too long."

The trio heard two sets of footsteps continue down opposite ends of the corridor and finally relaxed letting out pent up breaths. They eased themselves onto the floor as the tension left their bodies.

"I know I've heard the name Flammel before." The words left the mouths of both Harry and Hermione before either could notice the other was speaking. They both looked at each other and then looked away.

Ron looked between the two of them then let out a short laugh at their expense drawing their attention back off the subject. "I wonder what it is that is so important that they brought a Cerberus into the school." Ron said as he helped pull the cloak off of himself.

"I don't know, but I do know where it's at. The Cerberus is in that third-floor corridor we were told to avoid… I may have come across it when I was out at one point." Harry said ashamedly. Moving on quickly Harry looked around the room they had hidden themselves in. It was mostly empty except a large mirror sitting in the middle of the floor facing them. Harry interested walked forward placing himself right in the middle of its viewing area. As he made his way nearer the image changed seemingly rippling from what was in front of him to a different image all together.

There was Harry sitting in the middle of the floor of a large home, Ron was sat across from him playing wizard chess while Hermione and Susan sat on a sofa animatedly talking about some form of charms work. Harry would chime in every once in awhile which would start the two off on a whole other tangent. A warm fire was burning in the hearth and there was a plate of sandwiches nearby that looked delicious. As Harry looked around the mirror he saw people moving about in the background he couldn't quite make out, but who seemed familiar. Before long two of them moved into the frame proper and sat on a love-seat( A shorter couch for those who don't know) The man looked regal with high cheekbones and a well sculpted nose. His messy black hair sat loosely over his face slightly covering a pair of glasses. The other person who had walked into the frame was a lithe woman who looked very beautiful she had bright red hair and a smile that lit up the room with its brilliance. They didn't say anything to the children just sat listening with smiles on their faces.

"Mom? Dad? " Harry's voice was quiet. He knew it couldn't be real. Susan was in her bed on the other side of the school and Hermione and Ron were both right beside him. Harry sat there for a while barely recognizing that Hermione and Ron had sat down beside him staring at the mirror also. He didn't know how long he sat there when a hand landed on his shoulder shaking him from his thoughts.


	11. Beyond the Mirror of Erised

The hand that grabbed Harry was old and wrinkly and it connected upwards to a magenta sleeve which connected to a similarly colored robe in which Professor Dumbledore was in. He gave Harry a sad smile with just the first hints of tears in his aged blue eyes, what were once obviously very bright and cheerful eyes were now dulled with age and the weight of several of his titles resting upon him.

"I hope I did not interrupt a too good scene Harry, I am curious though of what you saw," Dumbledore said with the same sad smile on his face. He glanced once at the Mirror sitting in front of them before his eyes once again met Harry's waiting for an answer.

"Well, sir I was in a large sitting room with a fire and all my friends all around me..." Harry spent a few minutes recounting the details of the scene sometimes glancing back at the Mirror, sadly it did not show him the same image. Instead, now all he saw was what looked like a sheet of fabric drifting in a cool breeze refusing to show him the scene he had been entranced by before.

Dumbledore listened to the story while looking at the other two children sat before him, he would ask them once he had finished his time with Harry. After all the defenses of the mirror, though powerful that they were, would not hurt the children as he was here to awaken them.

"What you see before you is a powerful magical artifact known as the Mirror of Erised. It is incredibly ancient in origin, and slightly dark in nature as it enthralls the user to sit before it to the exclusion of all else. It was brought here for some magical research I was conducting during the winter holidays. Harry can you guess what the mirror shows us?" His voice still had that quiet calm quality to it that Harry was now certain had to be a natural quality.

Harry thought about the Mirror and what it had shown him, how he knew that what was shown couldn't be the future because his parents had been there. He glanced at the Mirror again now noticing that the edges of the mirror had runes carved into them sweeping across the top of the Mirror in an arc, after attempting to make them out for a moment they didn't make much more sense than he had originally thought they would

"Erised s'tra ehru oyt ub,e cafru oyt on wohsi." Harry tried to pronounce stumbling over the strange words, he felt a thrum deep in his chest when he recited the words before him. As if by the magic the script shifted in front of his very eyes into something Harry could very easily read as it was now in English.

"I show not your face, but your heart's desire." He started reading the words out loud. "Well sir based on that I would say it shows you a dream, or maybe the one thing your heart wants more than anything else, which I suppose is living a relaxing life with my friends and parents for me." His voice wasn't the surest sounding, but something told him that what he had guessed was correct.

"Very astute Harry yes the Mirror does, in fact, show what we desire most in the world," Dumbledore said as he himself looked at the mirror once again.

"What do you see, sir?" Harry asked curiously. What could a man like Dumbledore wish for most in the world, he seemed to have many great things already.

Dumbledore glanced at Harry, could he tell the boy what he saw? Would he understand? Would he ask questions? Would he himself feel like answering those questions..." He thought before sighing letting his shoulders sag slightly. "What I see Harry is my dear sister and brother sitting with me at my family home. We are sipping warm drinks and laughing, in the kitchen I see an old friend who made some poor choices in his life cooking which was a secret passion of his. Before long both your parents and young Neville's enter laughing holding covered dishes as the two of you run into the room. The fireplace flares a brilliant green before a handsome young man named Thomas steps through to drop off his course schedule for the DADA class as he is taking up the teaching position after the winter holidays. In short, I see all the mistakes in my life fixed and resolved Harry."

Harry didn't know how to respond to that so he sat silently for a moment before uttering " That sounds nice sir, maybe in another life it could have worked out like that, but in this one, it's just not meant to be." There was a note of sadness in his voice but he kept a strong face, one of his many masks on as he said it.

Dumbledore listened and watched for a moment before he began to move.

"If you would stay a moment Harry after I send your friends off to bed I would appreciate a short chat with you."

Harry nodded that he would stay around.

Dumbledore nodded as he awoke Ron next, they went through the same sort of questions, Ron explaining that his dream was that of being recognized to not be just another brother and his own person, with Harry and Hermione there alongside him. He, however, was unable to answer the riddle of the mirror without it being explained. He didn't seem all that bothered by having it explained if the look on his face was one to go by. Hermione was the next to be awoken, her dream was to be sitting in a rather famous library that Dumbledore even recognized that, of course, being the famed Library of Alexandria. Her friends were there each exploring their own interests but still there with her in that incredible place.

Dumbledore gave her a small wink and said "You may be surprised Miss Granger to learn that The Library is not quite so burned as you may think it is. The magical world has many secrets after all." After that Harry could almost see the steam coming from her ears as she held back the literal sea of questions she had. Hermione figured out the riddle of the mirror rather lamely Harry thought by realizing that it was written in reverse and reading that way. Professor Dumbledore, however, let out a hearty laugh congratulating her.

It was not too much longer before Professor Dumbledore gathered them all three together at the door. "Now children, the Mirror is very dangerous as you have seen just a glance can catch you in its enthralling magic. I would ask you to not go looking for it again as it will be moved after tonight. Now the Hermione and Ron, you two will need to head back toward the common room and back to bed with this note." Here the professor twirled his wand in a semi-circle after picking up a spec of what looked like dirt with a sharp Z flowing to connect them, a second later a piece of paper with their names on it appeared, a hall-pass it would seem.

"What about Harry sir?" Hermione let out as she took the note. Ron nodded and crossed his arms waiting for a response.

"Ahh, such good friends you two are. Harry will be along in just a few minutes. I have something referring to his Gringotts vault I need to speak with him privately about."

Hermione opened her mouth, but Ron cut across her "Ahh I see sir, I'll make sure Hermione understands why this is a big deal on our way back." Ron led Hermione away quickly towards the Gryffindor tower sharing a conversation that Harry already knew due to his studies.

Once they were well on their way down the hallway Dumbledore closed the door and firstly transfigured another hall-pass for Harry and passed it over to him. Harry accepted it before turning back to the wizened Professor.

"Harry I bring excellent news which was actually the original reason I came after you this evening. The Goblins have allowed us to enter your Family Vault this summer, to obtain among other things your parent's Last Will and Testament. As we have discussed before this will allow us access to the Potter Grimoire, and hopefully, allow us to set you on the path needed to accept your place in the future." Dumbledore calmly explained.

"That is great news, sir! I was wondering have you made any progress on moving me to another location for the summer?" Harry replied optimistically. He literally shook with excitement at the prospect of learning more about his family, his real family.

Dumbledore let a genuine smile adorn his face "Ahh yes my boy, I have a few people who have volunteered for the honor, among them being the Weasley's Family, along with the Tonks' Family. We will go over your options once I have been able to go over all the offers thoroughly." Harry nodded his understanding, and at Dumbledore's hand gesture made his way back to the common room. He was stopped only once along the way by the Ghost known as The Gray Lady who inquired why a student was out so late. He showed her his hall-pass and introduced himself swiftly to her.

"Harry Potter mam, I had a short conversation with Professor Dumbledore that required some privacy." He explained to her hoping to dissuade her from going after a professor to verify his pass.

"Ahh yes Mister Potter, I have heard a few of the Claws talk about you, you seem to have a good head on your shoulders, and more importantly a healthy respect for books and information. I approve whole heartedly." All of this was said with a rather curt and disinterested voice, and she left shortly after floating through a wall leaving Harry to look after her with a perplexed look on his face. He continued on his way entering the portrait hole swiftly and sneaking his way back up to bed with the invisibility cloak safely stored away in his trunk.


	12. Defense Beyond Expectations

Author Note: This chapter was supposed to include the visit to Hagrid, but it kind of got away from me unexpectedly. Next Chapter I promise!

The following weeks were not much to speak about, classes resumed as normal and Harry had once again shown his knowledge reclaiming his standing in the upper section of the class. He would be higher up, but he was starting to feel the pressure settling in around him of everything that he had to learn. Goblins and how to communicate with them, looking through all the books in the library looking for Master Flammel, whoever that was supposed to be, and also keeping his head above water in his classes.

Hermione had stopped him on more than one occasion trying to get him to slow down in his consumption of information but he was determined that he would not disappoint all the people who had been helping him by slowing down or letting something as simple as his own health keep him back from doing the best he could do.

"All I'm saying Harry is that maybe you should slow down and take a day off. Maybe we could go see Mister Hagrid he always has stories to tell after all." Hermione said as they walked briskly toward their next class. Moving from Potions to Defense was never a fun trek, from the bottom of the castle up to the fourth floor could be quite the task if the stairs were being uncooperative like they were being today. They were not the only people to notice that the stairs were not behaving as they should several students were trapped on stairs that refused to move to a landing and others simply never stopped moving so that someone could even step on them. Harry had been watching the stairs trying to find a pattern before he finally surmised that there was no pattern true randomness was what he was seeing. The group that was standing around him were getting antsy they would miss their class soon and while the soft-spoken Professor Quirrell was generally fairly well-liked, those who arrived late to his class tended to find their seats charmed to do interesting things to them.

"I have an idea..." Harry said at a reasonable volume. Several of the students turned and looked at him, including some upperclassmen who had tried some spells already. A tall girl with a Prefect Badge on her chest turned toward him and raised her eyebrow.

"And what, Mister Potter, would that be?" Her voice was skeptical sounding at best, but this was Harry Potter so she figured she would at least hear out his idea, maybe it had some kind of merit.

"Well Prefect, I had to be escorted to the nurse's station once and the stairs were being uncooperative at the time, the teacher who took me, Professor Flitwick, forced the stairs to cooperate," Harry explained as the group parted for him to reach the banister that flowed around the landing they were on.

"Ahh I see, sorry for not introducing myself, my name is Penelope Clearwater, a fifth-year Ravenclaw Prefect." She stood next to him as she watched him place his palm on the banister and take a deep breath...

Harry prepared himself mentally for what he was about to do, he didn't know how much magical energy it would take up and he hoped that half of his pool would be more than enough. He imagined the staircases working in their intended manner. He imagined that they would work for everyone in the castle. He saw them doing this, with efficiency and speed, and more importantly, he saw himself commanding them. He had read something a few weeks ago. Magic responded to intent, he had to force his will upon what he wanted to change. When he opened his eyes Penelope gasped and several people stood back. Harry had a slight purple glow to him and his hair was twitching as if being moved by a slight breeze. When he spoke next his voice was loud, almost as if affected by a Sonarus spell.

"I am a Hogwarts student attempting to move to my class, your interruption on this day of classes has made half of the student body late. You WILL resume normal working order and you will do so NOW." Harry's voice was perfectly even as he felt the magical energy he had gathered swiftly leave him and as he did so he staggered slightly almost falling off the landing he was standing on, except by the quick hand of Penelope and another boy, a Slytherin also wearing a Prefect Badge. Once he was standing right again he heard several people muttering behind him and when he turned he saw them pointing. When he finally got the strength back to start noticing details he noticed that some were pointing at him, but others were pointing at the staircases themselves. He grabbed ahold of the railing in front of him and leaned against it as he looked out.

The staircases had stopped. All of them halting their movements and standing petrified some even in mid-air. After a few moments, they started rotating moving in their normal patterns delivering students where they were meant to be.

"Well there you have it," Harry panted out before pushing himself off the banister he had been leaning on and resuming his journey to DADA, with a bewildered retinue of students behind him. As he walked Hermione and Ron both managed to catch up to him at the front of the pack pushing their way around other students.

"Brilliant, that was utterly brilliant," Ron said as he put his hand on Harry's shoulder, both in congratulation and to help him stay steady as he was swaying lightly.

"He's right Harry, the staircases and the entire Castle's magic is highly volatile causing it to repel other sources of magic, the fact that you could overpower it at all, and without any wand movements is simply astonishing." Hermione gushed as she made sure no one got too close to Harry and Ron. She was assisted in this, by the two Prefects that had been there earlier.

When they finally stepped off on their own landing the two Prefects stayed on the staircase obviously going elsewhere, but before they were whisked away all three heard,

"I'm unable to award more than one hundred points at one time Mister Potter, but be aware that I will be speaking with Deputy-Headmistress McGonagall, and she will see to it that you receive the appropriate accolades for that impressive feat of magic." Harry turned and nodded toward the male Prefect who hadn't volunteered his name while also taking in the detail that Penelope was staring at the boy with wide eyes. Harry saw him glance at her before once again speaking.

"I'm sure Miss Clearwater will corroborate my story. I expect you may be called to give an account as it is odd that the staircases were not acting appropriately." As the last word left his mouth the staircase spun away from the trio. They were the last three standing on the landing and they could see another staircase shifting its way up to them filled with their classmates, so they decided it would be appropriate to move on to class. Swiftly joining the others Harry could already make out the conversations about what he had done, not just by the students but by the paintings as well as they ran from their frames to pass along the story of what had just happened.

The chime signifying everyone was to be in class rang four minutes later than it normally did, to Harry's surprise. It appeared that the stairs incident had been noticed and the timetable altered. Harry sat at the front of the class in the usual place, two seats to the left of Ron while Hermione was seated directly behind him. The seating was arranged around lowering tiers finally culminating in an open area roughly ten feet in diameter with a podium placed in the center. Standing at the podium was Professor Quirrell, a man who knew his theory very well, and if the books were to be believed, a deft hand dispatching supernatural threats. Though at the beginning of the term he had been acting strange and muttered from time to time, he now was perfectly poised and well-groomed.

"As you all know, I am of course Professor Quirrell. I welcome you back from your winter holidays, hoping you all made out very well. Now as you all know in the first half of the year we made efforts to learn all of the basic defense options open to students of your age. You have all done admirably in your midterm papers, and as such, I have decided to move you on to the second half of the curriculum. This includes actual spell casting and simple movement training. You will learn that in this world there are several very dangerous creatures, that when you are fully grown you will be expected to either deal with or keep others safe from depending on your profession. Mister Malfoy, as an example, your godfather Professor Snape is a Potions Master. He handles several dangerous creatures and volatile body parts. He has to be very well versed in how to hand each one or he may end up hurting himself in a most terrible way or ruining a potion that may in fact kill whoever drinks it.

To continue on, those are things you will learn in your later years, for now we will be practicing one of the first jinxes we had studied at the start of the year, the Knockback Jinx. Very simple really, as you all know from your studies the spell is used to push away anything you aim it at given you put enough magical energy into the spell. It is used to great effect on creatures that are very heavy as aiming it at their feet can knock their legs right out from under them allowing you enough time to flee and find an adult wizard. It can also be used versus humanoid targets to once again create distance and protect yourself from harm.

As a quick refresher, the wand movements are a simple push forward aiming at where you want the jinx directed. Please remember that the way you angle your wand affects where the jinx will land. The incantation is Flippendo, sprouting from the Latin, Reppulunt, and then modified so that the spell could be more easily used. I will be calling you down one at a time, every day this week to practice this spell. To obtain a passing grade you must simply show mastery of the spell. Mastery, of course, being proper use of the spell under grading conditions, bonus points will be given out if you Exceed Expectations or perform an Outstanding feat with the spell."

The speech was delivered well, with appropriately timed breaths and pauses allowing the children to see the man cast the spell three times moving different sizes of boxes across the small area he was standing in pushing them against the back wall of the classroom.

Harry flipped through his notes all the way back to the start of the year and found his notes on the subject. He quickly read over them as he watched his fellow students be called down. Among his notes at the bottom off to the side, he noticed that he had made a note that he wanted to question Professor Quirrell about when the practical examinations came around.

When he was finally called down he took the required position and drew his wand to his mid-chest.

"Professor before I begin casting I have a question," Harry announced thinking over his words carefully. When he had stepped down to the lowest area with the Professor his head begun to thump and it was quite distracting.

"What would that be Mister Potter? Your grades for this spell are very well done, and you scored in the top twenty-five percent of the class on the paperwork for it." Quirrell said as he walked back over to his Podium looking down at the papers there confirming what he had just said.

"Ah well, during my independent research I noticed that if I flicked my wand at the end my blast would move slightly. In more of an arc than the straight line of the spell allowing me to hit a wider area." Harry said as the pounding in his head slowed slightly. Maybe it had been the use of so much magic earlier that was causing the headache?

"Excellent deduction Mister Potter, ten points to Gryffindor, what you are describing is an advanced variant of the spell allowing you to knockback more than one object at a time. The drawback, of course, is that without sufficient power this variant of the spell will not knockback anything nearly as far or at all. If you would be so kind as to attempt to move two of the boxes at once, I will count your grade as Acceptable right now. If you improve by the end of the week then you will receive an Exceeds Expectations if you can knock both boxes back all the way, or Mister Potter, an Outstanding if you manage to knock back all three boxes all the way back at the same time." Quirrell said as he shuffled the papers straight and placing them back on the podium. He turned then facing Harry giving him his undivided attention.

"Of course sir, I will attempt to master this by the end of the week, for now, however," Harry turned once again to the boxes retaking his stance. He calmed himself as he pulled from that well of magic he commanded. Focusing like this he saw the water drop maybe fifteen percent perhaps a bit more, and when he reopened his eyes he felt that familiar rush of energy.

"Flipendo!" he let out, and as he did so he stabbed his wand forward, and just as he could feel the energy flowing down his arm to his wand he flicked his wrist. The normal Blue-yellow of the spell raced forward, but not in a straight line. Instead, it moved at a slight curve. Still forward but at an obvious angle forming a sliding line of energy. The spell struck the leftmost and center box pushing both back a few inches, nowhere near the back wall, but the fact that he had moved both boxes pleased him anyway.

"That is the way, Harry." Quirrell congratulated him as he made his way back to his seat one ring up." If anyone else wants in on this little deal I have running with Mister Potter, speak with me after class." Harry placed his head down on his desk welcoming the cooling wood on his forehead. His head was pounding again and it was becoming hard to concentrate...


	13. Casting Call Catch Up

Author's Note: There is an exert from this chapter that exists as its own story on my profile. It is clearly marked and has Adult content in it. You have been warned

The wind was fairly brisk as it brushed against the faces of Harry, Hermione, and Ron as they walked down to Hagrid's Hut. It wasn't difficult to make out and they had been to visit on at least three other occasions. Hagrid has taken a great liking to the three of them early on, inviting them to come down whenever they wanted to. As they walked across the Hogwart's lawn, they saw several others out and about in the early April sun. Some sat down by the Black Lake casting spells and moving in small groups, others wandered the lawns blowing along with the wind with little true direction apparent, and the last thing they could make out with any great amount of detail was the small dots of Quidditch players moving through the air, they couldn't see the balls changing hands, but it wasn't difficult to imagine they were there. Not too much longer and they reached the door to Hagrid's Hut which Harry knocked against three times and then waited, shivering underneath the cloak he was wearing. A cold chill had crept up his spine as soon as he had made contact with the door, he grimaced.

"Something feels wrong, guys..." Harry muttered as the door swung open. As soon as he was ushered inside by Hagrid his eyes swept the room. Giant dog, oversized tables, cooking pot with a massive fire underneath. Hmm, that was different Hagrid had mentioned before that he didn't like the heat that much. He was ushered shortly to one of the many chairs sat around the table where he was offered tea and scones which he took just to be kind.

"How are you Hagrid?" Hermione said as she dipped the scone into the tea and took a bite. Harry was fairly certain he still heard it crunch even with her efforts. Hagrid had just sat down at the table after throwing a chunk of meat to Fang and then answered them.

"Oh I'm good kids, I'm actually super lucky, you see just down the pub the other night I won a rare treasure I did," Hagrid said with obvious glee on his face. He stood up suddenly knocking the table, and subsequently Ron and Harry as he turned around and walked over to the fire that Harry had taken note of before.

"This kids, is a secret so you can't tell anyone, alright?" His voice was muffled by his size and the shape of the hut itself. Hermione looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow to which Harry shook his head. After a few moments though Hagrid stood aside to reveal what looked like a shiny rock inside the pot over the fire. At least that was what Harry had assumed until he saw the look of horror on Ron's face. Hagrid called them around to look and they all ooh-ed and aww-ed even Ron who had a queasy look on his face. They sat and chatted for a few more minutes before they had to go. Hagrid invited them back down any time they wanted and they promised they would come by again. Almost the minute they were out the door and down the steps Ron started looking around for anyone nearby before he started talking in a fast whisper.

"This is bad, really bad, really really really bad guys. That was a DRAGON EGG. It is illegal to have one. My brother had to take loads and loads of tests and certifications to even by allowed AROUND them let alone handle them." He said as he kept looking around. To say Harry and Hermione were alarmed would be an understatement, they were freaking out.

"Okay, so what do we do?" Harry said as they were walking up the hill lowering his voice as they passed a group of older students holding hands and whispering to each other.

"I'll do some research maybe there is some turn in for them?" she questioned looking at Ron.

"I don't know Hermione, I'd have to send a letter to Charlie, and I hope he doesn't ask too many questions." He answered as they walked through the thankfully empty Main Hall.

"You can use Hedwig. I'm sure she would like the exercise, I don't have anyone to send letters to so she hangs around the castle a lot." Harry said as they climbed the steps up to their next class after the break DADA.

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Today would be the fourth day of his attempts to move all three boxes at once with the modified Flipendo jinx.

The class went as one would expect if Harry was honest with himself. They covered their topic for the day, reporting to the proper authorities if something were to happen. The lecture was informative in Harry's opinion even though several people in the class already apparently knew the information. It gave a list of proper authorities, where one might be able to find them, and they were informed they would be learning the different colored sparks spells sometime in the next week. These spells would signal an emergency and all adults knew that this would be what aligned to a distress call. Shortly after the lecture concluded the class was called up one at a time to test their casting abilities. Several people had taken the challenge that Harry was given and so far none had succeeded in moving all three boxes at once, but Harry was determined he would do so today. Professor Quirrell had told him that if he was unable to cast a follow-up spell afterward then he would still consider it a failing grade because almost never would one spell specifically end a fight. Harry had worked in his own free time practicing the spell-work extensively. He was quite happy with his progress if he was honest with himself! While true he could make all three boxes move the required distance he still had problem with the Lumos part of the challenge. Harry sat patiently in his seat watching as others moved down the steps and either moved the single box or attempted the much more difficult Tri-Box Challenge, as it was being called. Professor Dumbledore had even conjured a cup for the first person to complete the challenge along with the promise their name would go on a plaque that would sit in the Hall of Records. So far no one had managed to move all three boxes back and hold the Lumos, but Harry was certain he could do it today, it was just a matter of time before he succeeded in front of the class.

"Mister Potter, would you please step up and do you attempt for the day?" Quirrell said from his podium, marking down the last person's scores. Draco walked by him as he stood and whispered to him

"I'm up to five seconds on my Lumos spell Potter, I can basically see my name on that plaque already." Harry had been so out of it that he hadn't even noticed that Draco had knocked all three boxes back. Draco was truly a talented student, while he was not bragging he actually performed amazingly in the spell casting portions of class. The source of Harry's inattention was the massive pain at his forehead right across his scar. He should really go talk to Madam Pomfrey about these headaches they were starting to become more frequent, and they were quite debilitating when they struck. He shook his head lightly clearing away the useless thoughts before making his way to the marked area on the floor. Once there he took a few seconds to adopt a stance he had found that worked well for him.

In his practice he found taking this stance made it easy to reach deep in himself and cast with a lot of power getting better results while draining less from his pool. The magic seemed to flow more easily from his chest and down his arm to his wand. He had his hips shifted to the side with his right hand forward, his left foot was lightly touching the ground and his front right was bent slightly at the knee his non casting hand was held at his side slightly behind the midpoint of his hips. He found with this stance he could move quickly in most directions, but the real draw was that the power seemed to flow down his hand and the spells came out much more powerfully. Hermione figured it had something to do with what she called the Rule of Conservation. She couldn't give him a ton of information about it as she had heard her parents talking about it before but not in great detail. The basics of the thought was that energy doesn't ever disappear, sunlight becomes plants, gets eaten by animals, we eat the animals; ect, ect, ect.

Harry had been smart in his preparations for this moment, he had remembered Hermione talking about how eating gave them more magical energy to cast with so he had eaten a ton for breakfast this morning. With his new stance and filled to the brim with energy he felt he was in the best possible condition to pass the test. He had done so several times in his private practice, but it was always harder here. He supposed he must have been nervous, it was the only reason he could think of for why he couldn't cast at his best, but in private he did very well. All these thoughts roiled in his mind as he stood looking at the boxes in front of him. Finally he figured he had stalled enough, so he flicked his wand in the arc required for the spell, and pushed more power than was strictly necessary into it. With this extra power he was sure, headache or not, it would be enough to really make the boxes hit the back wall with some force.

"FLIPENDO!" Harry shouted the incantation and was rather pleased with himself when he saw the thick rope of blue yellow light shoot out and hit all three boxes which promptly flew backward into the wall with a mighty bang.

"Very impressive Mister Potter, very impressive. I assume you are showing off a bit by showing everyone that you are a credible magical threat, however you haven't earned that coveted cup yet. You must still hold a Lumos for fifteen seconds, lets hope your showing of strength did not leave you to drained for that." Quirrell said as he looked around the room, several students who had been taking notes or reading now looked at Harry with rapt attention. Some whispered conversations had broken out notably, several pairs of Slytherins were whispering behind books and raised hands. Draco Malfoy whose face was paler than usual appeared to be whispering to young Blake Zabini, and Daphne Greengrass appeared to be having an animated discussion with Tracey Davis and Pansy Parkinson. The Gryffindors were much more open with their displays, several clapping loudly while Ron Weasley shouted his praise, Hermione Granger was shooting satisfied looks toward Harry with a small grin adorning her face. Harry himself was looking rather pleased with a certain air of superiority pouring off of the boy, and though the children couldn't feel it, not yet being sensitive to magic, Harry was bleeding a little bit of magic off of himself. If Quirrell had to guess he would say that the boy had stressed his magic, letting it buffer up for the day. While not unheard of in certain dueling circuits and in the upper tiers of the Auror Forces, it was not something the general populace knew about, let alone children.

His attention was drawn back to Harry when he held up his wand and calmly stated "Lumos." The seconds ticked by slowly as everyone in the room watched Harry's wand light shine a pale purple. Five seconds passed, and the light flickered for a moment and a light sweat had appeared on Harry's face. Ten seconds and the entire classroom was now in stunned silence, the light still held, but not quite so brightly as before. Harry's breath was coming out slightly ragged as he concentrated heavily on keeping the flow of power steady. Thirteen seconds and the light still shown, the class had moved past stunned silence into rapidly building excitement. Fourteen seconds and Harry's eyes had drooped a bit, however the class was still going quite wild. The light at the end of Harry's wand slowly dimmed down to almost nothing excepting a point smaller than the size of a bottle cap. However with the reduction in size came an increase in radiance, what was once a pale purple corona that suffused the air around Harry's wand was now a brightly shinning point directly at the end of it. Quirrell was watching his mechanical watch very carefully, Harry had about half a second left, and if the light faded even a millisecond early he would not give the boy the accolades he was clearly trying for. Finally, however his watch ticked over and he called out,

"Time! Mister Potter congratulations, on being the first person to successfully complete the Tri-Box Cup. Now class settle down, settle down. Can anyone tell me why as the Lumos drags on, it is harder and harder to keep the spell active?" He called out excitedly, he kept an active eye on Harry who slumped against one of the hard boxes that had been brought in for the challenge, but the boy seemed well enough so he didn't bother moving over to him. The first hand in the air belonged to Daphne Greengrass who was looking at Harry like a Cat discovering a quite interesting mouse.

"The reason the Lumos spell is so difficult to hold for extended periods of time is that it keeps taking more and more Magical Stamina. For every second the spell is held its needs are fifty percent more. So at the fifteenth and most difficult second, it takes eight hundred percent of the base casting stamina." She answered in a clear voice

"Correct Miss Greengrass, ten points to Slytherin for your thorough answer. Now as Miss Greengrass said the reason it is so difficult is because of the increasing need for more power, however, there is also a more advanced reason as well. The body does not deal well with changing how it's energy flows. The Flipendo spell requires a very forceful push of energy, while the Lumos requires a constant stream. These are opposing styles and as such the energy needed is even higher. This means that if Mister Potter were to simply cast a Lumos he could most likely hold it for several minutes without feeling a thing, but by forcing a change on his magic it drains much quicker and becomes very difficult. Now then there are still several students who need to make their attempts so please settle down. Mister Potter, I will fetch you at dinner for the bequeathment ceremony this evening."

The rest of the class was filled with people sneaking glances at Harry, who had his head down at his desk eyes closed breath coming out evenly in his sleep. When the time came Hermione shook him awake gently, and Harry joined her and Ron on the way to the Library for their free period. They were a bit over halfway there when Harry suddenly jerked.

"I forgot I have a meeting with Tonks! Sorry, guys got to go!" He shouted as he turned around and ran back towards The Grand Staircase, where he lept on a staircase that was just leaving the stop he was on. At the next landing, he rushed off to one of the shortcuts the twin's map had shown him letting him bypass the fourth and fifth floor depositing him on the sixth floor a short distance from his destination, an unused classroom Dumbledore has approved for their meetings. He stood outside the door for a few moments catching his breath before knocking and entering. When he did he saw Tonks, her hair long and pale blue this meeting, sitting on a desk near the front of the room. Harry made his way down silently, afraid he had offended her by being late. He had learned after their third meeting that his eyes had not been playing tricks on him and that instead, it was Tonks playing tricks on him. She was using her powers to change subtle things about herself, it was apparently something she had done with everyone she met to see how long it was before they started taking serious notice and confronted her. Harry had learned that he was slightly faster than some, but there were some people who had called her out on their first meeting. When he got close Tonks turned around and Harry could instantly tell something was wrong. Her eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot, and though she had a smile on her face, Harry felt that it wasn't a real smile.

"What happened Tonks? Are you alright?" he said as he moved up to her finally, he put his bag on a nearby desk and moved in front of her.

"Just had a bad night kiddo, that's all." She said as she ruffled his hair slightly.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked he knew what it was like to be so sad you cried for half the night, he had gone to bed in his closet many nights after crying himself to exhaustion. She gave him that same sad smile before nodding at him and motioning for him to get his Grimoire out. Tonks watched as he turned around and started digging around in his bag moving things. While she watched him she thought about what had upset her and left her feeling this way.

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She jerked as Harry's voice drew her back to the present, she focused back in on him and looked at the Grimoire in his hand.

"Nks, Tonks? Are you sure you're alright?" Harry said as he placed the book in her hand, she had looked so far away there for a minute.

"As I said, Harry, I had a really bad night, I'll be proper bright and chipper by lunch I promise," Tonks said as she pulled her wand out and began casting the diagnostic spells on the grimoire. Seemingly satisfied with what she got back, she began visually inspecting the book, looking for signs of wear and tear and breakdown. After all the book was a magical construct, the way it held everything together was through taking up the ambient magical energy in the air, normally this would be a problem if there wasn't enough ambient magic in the air, but they were sitting in Hogwarts which was the intersection of seven different lay-lines.

"Wotcher Harry! Everything seems in line, and right as rain. Unless you have any problems you'd like to talk about, I'll see you next week." Tonks said as she stood up and handed the Grimoire back to Harry who nodded in the negative.

"No Tonks, nothing to really report." He said as he mock saluted her and walked out of the room shortly after with her slightly behind him. While they headed off to the Grand Staircase they exchanged small talk, talking about classes and work assignments. They split apart shortly after that, with Harry heading to lunch and Tonks on her way to Dumbledore's Office intent on picking up one of her assignments before flooing back to the Ministry.


	14. Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon

The next few days were a flurry of events, the first of which was the returning of Hedwig with the letter from Charlie. After confirming who the letter was from the trio decided it would be smart to meet somewhere private to discuss what was inside considering the illegality of the subject matter. They choose a secluded part of the library that they had yet to actually see anyone else use. It was far out of the way of the main stacks stuck away in the Recent History section. It was here Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat with some books Hermione had pulled from the shelves, the letter from Charlie, and some notes Harry had taken from his conversations with Dumbledore where he had asked some innocent questions about dragons and their rules which he recorded after he had left the meetings. With all of this gathered information they hoped that they could figure out some way to help Hagrid even if he didn't see a problem with hatching the egg, which he had informed them would be called Norbert.

The books laying around them depicted dragons eating wizards and witches, a history of dragons, why they were rated as such a deadly creature, and overall why it would be a bad idea to attempt to raise one in a wooden hut without any kind of training or safety precautions. The trio learned from these books that once there had been a turn in for dangerous items like dragon eggs, but it had been discontinued sometime in the eleventh century after dragon eggs had been reclassified as XXXX illegal items and anyone in possession of one without the appropriate paperwork would be looking at a long time in a wizarding prison, the most notorious of which being Azkaban. Before that point in time if a wizard happened to have a dragon egg, he could simply hand it over to the government and they would rehome it for little to no charge. The books also provided some identifying tactics for dragon eggs that helped them ascertain that the egg Hagrid had would be a meat eater and probably not very friendly based on what Harry specifically could remember of the details on the egg. It has been rather ovaloid in shape and had a slight pattern of ridges that encircled it, these two things gave them enough information to make the assumptions they had so far, but not enough to tell them what type of dragon it would be or how large it may get as the sizes of different types of dragons varied wildly. Finally, Ron opened the letter and began reading from it.

"Dear Ron, Firstly, how are you? I haven't gotten a letter from you since before Winter Hols and that was mostly an update on how you were doing in classes and that you had made some very good friends. I hope you are doing all right, and remember if you have any kind of problems, I'm sure Fred and George would be willing to help you out if you made it worth their time.

Anyway, in response to your dragon questions, I'm glad you've taken an interest in what I do! Dragons have always been my passion as I'm sure you remember from the days when I was still around. Anyway, dragon eggs are a very important part of the continued existence of several breeds of dragons and are closely regulated by all wizarding governments. There are several breeds that are only alive because of reserves like the one I'm working on now. The most important part of dragon eggs is making sure they stay warm enough funnily enough. Other kinds of eggs you wouldn't want them too warm cause that may cook them through but for a dragon egg the hotter the better and Nesting Mothers regularly bath their eggs in flame to keep them up to temperature. The other interesting thing is a dragon egg can sit for almost ever and will only hatch after it has been exposed to appropriate heat levels for an extended period. We have records of some of our eggs sitting for over one-hundred years before it was deemed appropriate to hatch them. To answer another of your questions, as far as the reserve I'm on no eggs have ever gone missing, god I could just imagine the scandal if a dragon egg came up to not be in the current count especially if it was a dangerous one! Imagine if it landed somewhere especially warm like Rome, it would wreak havoc across the muggle and magical sections of Rome for weeks before a trained dragon handling team could bring it under control. If you have any more questions feel free to write me another letter, also whoever owns this owl give them my accolades, she is beautiful and obviously well taken care of. She was the talk of the camp when she flew in over the head of a Chinese Fireball and glared into its eyes long enough everyone was sure she would be cooked alive. However, after an intense stare down the dragon actually blinked first and flew away back to its nest. Absolute madness I'm telling you. Send my love to everyone there, let them know I'm doing great over here and I'm planning on coming home for a bit this summer.

Your Awesome Older Brother, Charlie.

The letter was helpful in the extreme, they learned several things from it the most important of which would be that they needed to get down to Hagrid's Hut and have him pull the egg from the fire as soon as they could. Other than that, it would be more difficult than they thought to actually go out and get the egg to the appropriate place, especially if they didn't want to get Hagrid in trouble.

"Okay so," Harry said suddenly "What if we let Headmaster Dumbledore know without letting him know?" Harry said as he looked around once again, he was sure he had heard something a few moments ago.

"What just let him know Hagrid somehow got a dragon egg? What would he be able to do about it?" Hermione said with no small amount of doubt in her voice.

"No no, Harry's got a point, Dumbledore is really important. He has a bunch of government positions, plus he employs Hagrid, if anyone could take care of this it may very well be him." Ron countered quickly and began looking through one of the books quickly.

While that was going on Harry was sure he heard something and stood up quickly dashing over to the hallway that led to their little area, there he saw at the far enough of the adjoining hallway a flash of auburn hair. Moments later he heard a crash come from the same area. Quickly he made his way down to investigate, low and behold it was Susan Bones who had tripped over something and was now scrambling to get everything she had dropped picked back up. Harry grabbed some of the parchment work that was at his feet and when Susan looked up at him her face flushed with shame.

"I think you should probably come sit down with us." Harry said as he offered her a hand to help her stand back up. Once she took it, he handed her the parchment work, Charms theory he noticed, before turning and making his way back to Ron and Hermione who were still sitting at the secluded table

"I know you guys have met, but I'd like to formally introduce Susan Bones, I spent the Winter Hols at her place. She is very smart and can probably keep up with you in Charms work Hermione. More importantly though I trust her." Harry announced as he sat back down at the seat he was in before and began looking at all the books and paperwork around him.

"So, I'm sure you didn't mean to spy on us, you were probably just looking for somewhere to study right? We did meet here once after all…" Harry said trailing off remembering the evening spent studying away from the Gryffindor Common Room

"Yes, but then I noticed it was occupied and I was making my way out when I heard about well your research project. I feel you must know that it is Illegal for Hagrid to have that egg you know?" She said her voice low and slightly subdued. She hadn't meant to spy on them honestly, but she had walked in at quite possibly the worst time!

"Oh, trust us we know, we are trying to think of a way to make sure he doesn't get in trouble for turning it in." Ron said as he then made a sound of excitement and turned the book around to the others. When Harry looked at it, he saw what looked like a list of uses for dragon parts, most famously were the uses of dragon blood co-authored by one Albus Percival Dumbledore.

"I just remembered that the Headmaster has had his hand in dragons before. We should really go talk to him about this." Ron said as he grinned at his friends. He may not be as book smart as Hermione or as Determined as Harry, but one thing he was good at was planning and he was sure this was the right step forward. Once everyone had a moment to look at the book, he turned it back around and closed it.

"Plan time, Hermione and I will run down to Hagrid's and get him to pull the egg off the fire, Harry and Susan should go to Professor Dumbledore right now and tell him what's going on. Get Dumbledore down to Hagrid's as fast as you can." Ron said as he stood up and motioned for Hermione to follow him, before long they were completely out of sight using one of the side entrances to the library to get easier access out to the grounds.

Meanwhile Harry had grabbed Susan at the wrist and was pulling her through the main entrance and up to the second floor before pulling them behind a suit of armor. Susan's face had gone scarlet when she saw how secluded they were.

"Harry… "She muttered as she noticed just how close together they were, crowded by the suit of armor in the alcove. Harry was face to face with her their bodies pressed together and her breath hot on his neck as he was slightly taller than she was.

"So. Sorry, I didn't think it would be this cramped." He said as he kept moving his hand around, once brushing against Susan's side which caused the girl to yelp and jump before finally the wall beside them slid back revealing a secret passage leading upwards. Once again on the move Susan was dragged up the dark staircase looking at all the ancient paintings that didn't have anyone in their frames and the piles of cobwebs that hung from every inch of the ceiling. The musty air was hard to breath and when the emerged two floors up into the brightly lit hallway she coughed as she got some fresh air back into her lungs. It was a quick jaunt down the hallway and around the corner when she saw a large stone gargoyle standing on a pedestal.

"Please we need to see Professor Dumbledore, its an emergency!" Harry said quickly to the statue. Susan looked at Harry from the corner of her eye before to her amazement the gargoyle stepped down from his pedestal and a doorway appeared behind it. Harry quickly stepped up onto the pedestal and started climbing the stairs only pausing at the top to knock on the door.

"Come in Harry, Come in Susan. Quickly, quickly now." Dumbledore's raised voice could be heard from the other side of the door. When Harry pushed open the doorway the headmaster was already standing and walking toward them with a frown on his face.

"What is the matter has something happened?" His voice was even, but the notes of worry in it were obvious even to the two children.

"Well sir…" It was now that Harry explained everything that had happened from the dragon egg to their research to the letter from Charlie and finally their plan to get the professor himself involved.

Dumbledore nodded several times throughout the story before finally speaking again

"I see, it is a good thing you brought this to my attention. While Hagrid is a very good friend, he sometimes fails to realize the danger of some of the creatures he watches over. Come children, we will deal with this right now." He said as he held out his arm and Fawkes the phoenix flew over to his shoulder. He motioned for each of the children to take one of his hands. When they did so Fawkes spread his wings wide and suddenly there was a rush of heat around all three of them and it felt like they were moving rapidly without moving at all. Suddenly they were standing outside of Hagrid's Hut with a surprised Draco Malfoy standing there pointing through the open doorway.

"Dra-dra-dra-DRAGON!" He half yelped half yelled falling backward, both at the surprise from seeing Dumbledore and from seeing the sight Harry was now looking at through the door. A fully hatched baby dragon.

"To late," Harry mumbled to himself in disappointment.

"Yes, Draco it is a baby dragon, I am here to oversee its birth but unfortunately I was slightly late. You are obviously invited to stay as well." Dumbledore said as he held out a hand to the boy who shook his head and ran off back up to the castle.

"That is an… unfortunate turn of circumstances, we will have to move quickly." Dumbledore said with a slight frown that Harry managed to catch.

"Why is that professor?" Harry said as everyone in the room finally turned to them. Hermione looked like she was about to cry and Susan's downcast look only hid how the shy girl was obviously blaming herself.

"Because young Malfoy's father is on the Board of Education and is not a fan of myself. He will be writing a letter to him probably as soon as he makes it back to the dungeons. We will have to take some interesting steps… Hmm Mister Weasley." At his name being called up a green faced Ron looked at Professor Dumbledore.

"Your brother Charlie was a fan of dragons and is currently working in Romania on a dragon reserve. Tell me does he have all of his certifications?"

"Uh yes professor, I believe he does." Ron said confusedly, glancing between Harry, Hermione, Dumbledore, and the young dragon sitting in the fire letting puffs of smoke out of its nostrils.

The next few minutes were a flurry of actions. Hagrid allowed Dumbledore close enough to look at the baby Norbert at which point he announced it would be a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon. From here Hagrid was asked to keep the little guy nice and warm and to not let anyone else into the hut. The next set of actions was for Dumbledore to incant "Expecto Patronum" At which point a misty version of Fawkes appeared where it received a message for Professor McGonagall to meet him at his office before launching itself through the wall of Hagrid's Hut.

"Professor Dumbledore? What should we do? We don't want Hagrid to get in trouble…" Hermione said quietly.

"Oh, do not worry, I'm sure I will work out a way for Hagrid to come out of this squeaky clean. Now you all should go back to your dormitories and prepare for what classes you have left for the day. Yes, I do really think I can turn this to the best of everyone." He responded as he opened the door for the students while mentioning the last bit mostly for his own benefit.


	15. Problems Upon Problems

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Author's Note: Bit of Angry Harry here in this one.

"So let me get this straight Dumbledore." Madam Bones' voice rang out from the fireplace in his office. "You have a dragon hatchling in the school, that Hagrid somehow obtained." Here Dumbledore could hear the disbelief in her voice reach an all-time high. "And to prevent an international incident you have already taken steps to protect both the school and the students, also you are looking for backing from me to talk with the board of dangerous animals to swing the entire thing as a learning opportunity for the students?"

"Ahh yes, I do believe you have summarized the events quite nicely Amelia," Dumbledore spoke from his desk without looking up from the paperwork he was working on.

"Dumbledore, I swear if you don't have a full itinerary and convincing benefits list along with a safety plan on my desk before the end of the day I will sanction you to the ends of the magical world." Amelia huffed out already thinking about all the paperwork that was headed her way.

"Of course Amelia, are you prepared for it now?" Dumbledore said as he finished the last line of writing on the document he had been preparing.

"You have it done now?" Amelia asked in disbelief.

"Of course! I am quite proficient in the art of paperwork you know." Dumbledore said in a jovial voice as he stood and walked over to the fireplace before sticking his hand through the flames with the multiple piles of paper he had been working on. He felt someone take them from him, and quickly withdrew his hand from the fire "I assume everything is to your specifications?" He stated as he made his way back to his desk.

"Um, yes I believe everything is here... Oh? Is this a new hire request form? That shouldn't be in this pile Dumbledore."

"Hmm? Oh yes, I was wondering if you could do me a small favor and deliver that to the Board of Governor's office when you turn everything else in. I feel having a trained dragon handler on staff would be a massive boon in all the areas we had previously discussed. I happen to know of an excellent young man who has all of his certifications who would fulfill the opening nicely." Dumbledore said with a smile on his face.

"Well, I guess I'll go start on my own pile of paperwork. Floo me if anything comes up Dumbledore." With that, the fire died down from the bright blue it had been back to a more normal reddish-orange.

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Harry's POV: Library

Maybe it was the residual energy of the castle itself, but Harry felt... on edge. He liked to think he was good at keeping his cool, but something felt off. He was just getting to a decent part of the book he was reading, A History of the Wizangamot and Their Operations, when he heard footsteps heading towards him just a second before everyone else at the table did. Hermione looked startled and Susan already had the beginnings of a scowl on her face. Ron however made eye contact with Harry who nodded at him before flicking his eyes to Hermione and Susan. Ron nodded at him and was already standing moving to the front of the table placing himself in between the entrance to their little study area and the table. "Hey maybe getting beaten around by Cousin Dudley had been useful after all" Harry thought to himself as he stealthily pulled his wand from his pocket.

"So Potter, I've written my father, it'll only be a few days before that useless old fool Dumbledore will be out of the castle along with that oaf Hagrid." Malfoy drawled as he finally made his around the corner. Harry noticed his eyes widen as he came across not just Harry, but Harry and Ron both standing there with wands in hand along with Hermione and Susan Bones seated at the table look quite... displeased.

"Is that so Draco?" Harry answered back an undertone of anger in his voice. "What makes you think anyone can force Dumbledore, the Defeater of Grindelwald, the Supreme Mugwump of the ICU, Chief Warlock, Holder of an Order of Merlin First Class, and finally Grand Sorcerer of the Ninth Level, out of the Castle that he is the Headmaster of exactly?" Harry was pissed. How could some little spec of dust like Draco expect anyone to get Dumbledore to do anything he didn't want to. He felt it more than saw it. The draw on his magic, the feeling of sparks rolling across his skin.

"Scarface?" Draco was scared! Harry could see it in his eyes and the way he shifted from foot to foot. Good! He shouldn't be allowed to insult Dumbledore, the man who had given him everything without asking for anything in return, the man who had pulled him from his abusive relatives.

"You don't get to say those words... You don't get to insult that man, especially not in his school... Leave." Harry's voice had a powerful undertone, a threat of something ancient, of something ... DANGEROUS.

"Or. Or what. You stupid arrogant idiot. What are you going to do?" Draco stuttered out. It appeared to Harry he was still scared but he wasn't leaving. Now Harry noticed that Draco wasn't being smart, he was being emotional. He wasn't thinking he was feeling, he was angry and scared.

"Draco if you use that wand for anything, besides putting it in your pocket and walking away you will regret it," Harry muttered taking a step forward placing himself less than a foot from Draco. Who based on the shocked expression on his face could feel the sparks of his magic pelting him.

It was over in just about ten seconds. Draco raised his wand already moving his lips when Harry snapped his hand up to Draco's wrist and pulled. He pulled with everything he could until he felt a pop and Draco squealed. Harry let go of him then, but the damage was already done. Draco's hand was hanging limply at the wrist, but that wasn't all there was a very clear burn mark in the shape of a hand wrapped around his wrist.


	16. It was an Accident... I Swear!

"Sir, I swear that I did not mean to hurt him, he drew his wand on us. I was scared, I didn't know what I was doing. He walked into the library and started insulting us, insulting you! What was I supposed to do just stand there and let him insult one of the greatest men in the magical world, and threaten the people I was with?

Here Dumbledore takes a breath before reaching up and setting his glasses on the desk. He doesn't look angry, he looks disappointed and so very tired. It was that that killed Harry even more than if he had been yelling or screaming it was the look and confirmation that he had failed what Dumbledore had expected of him.

"And why, do I need to be defended from a schoolboy Harry?" Dumbledore questions him

"I wasn't necessarily defending you, sir. It was the fact that while he was insulting you he had pulled his wand out. I was defending myself, Hermione, Ron, and Susan as well. He walked in and was being annoying waving his wand around. Am I supposed to take that as anything except some kind of provocation sir? I wanted him to leave. I just wanted him to leave us alone so that we could go back to what we were doing, but then he didn't put his wand away. The only thing I thought of is to grab a hold of his wrist so he couldn't cast anything."

Here Harry stops, taking a breath and Dumbledore cuts over him once again.

"And what of the blackened skin around his wrist that Madam Pomfrey herself says she cannot heal Harry? "

"I don't know sir, I was just trying to defend myself and the others. Draco has cast spells at me before and I didn't want one hitting anyone else" Harry explained voice wavering with unspoken emotion.

"Well unfortunately Harry we can't just let this slide, you will be serving detention along with Draco for inciting the fight." Harry looked crestfallen as he refused to meet Dumbledore's eyes, the floor underneath him becoming much more interesting. Harry muttered out an "I understand sir and I'm sorry for disappointing you." With his piece said he stepped through the doorway to the revolving stairs and into the hallways below.

Not two minutes later Severus walked through the door already looking contemptuous.

"I want him expelled this moment or I want him out of this castle. Assaulting another student Dumbledore! What will his parents think... What will we do?"

"I don't know yet Severus. I don't know what we will do, but I do have an idea. We will do what all others have done before us, we will think and then we will act. Did you know why Harry assaulted young Mr. Malfoy? Dumbledore asked quietly.

Here Severus stopped and looked almost as if he was questioning the old man's mental abilities. What could excuse this level of attack on a student he thought to himself. "I hardly see why that matters Dumbledore. He assaulted another student leaving permanent damage Pomfrey says."

Here Dumbledore slapped his hand on his desk thunderously. "He assaulted another student because that student walked into the library, in their own secluded area I might add, and started threatening them. Harry says that he feared not for himself, but the people around him because it was not the first time that Draco had ended up casting a spell at Harry."

Snape's eyes widened marginally, so he had been lied to then. He had not heard this part of the story. "What happened after that?" His voice low and suspicious.

"According to Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley young Draco refused to leave, refused to put his wand away. So when he started moving his hand Harry lunged forward and grabbed his wrist pulling it out of socket and leaving the mark."

"What of the magical burn that will be permanently on Draco's wrist?" Snape questioned.

"Pomfrey does not know how to heal it, it is packed with so much magical energy that anything she tries is repelled. I'll be making my way down there soon to attempt my own alchemical solution, but I do not see the wound ever coming clean of young Draco's wrist. Perhaps he should think of it the next time he goes to bully someone." Dumbledore said with a scowl present on his face.

"What will we tell Narcissa?" Snape questioned, "What will we tell Lucius?" The worry was evident in his voice  
"We will tell them what happened." Dumbledore said easily "You will tell them that Draco started an argument and threatened another student and the other student fearing for his friends took action to prevent any further escalation of events."

"And if they bring the Board of Governors?" Snape asked quietly.

"Then we will tell the Board of Governors exactly what happened I've already assigned detention to one of them I'll be assigning detention to the other soon enough. They will be doing something that is most unpleasant. Severus these, petty squabbles, cannot continue you've already seen that young Harry can barely control the magic he has. Inciting his wrath would not be wise especially as he grows older. It, his magic, will only increase both in amount and in potency. I'll begin training the boy in control soon. This is also a point where you should remind your Slytherins that actions have consequences and that if they do not like the consequences then they perhaps should not be starting things that they cannot finish."

Here Dumbledore paused for a moment collecting his breath and running his fingers across his desk "In all honesty, I grow tired of the Slytherins acting as if they control the school through fear. So in response to what happened, there'll be an increase in rules and consequences. If anyone is caught bullying any other students they will face strict repercussions." Here Dumbledore let the word repercussions hang for a moment "I don't want something like this happening again Severus."

Harry had just made it back to Transfiguration when the class was letting out. From the front of the room, Professor McGonagall's eyes found his own and he stopped startled at the look he was getting. It was a mix between disappointment and... was that pride?

"Mr. Potter would you please stay, I will excuse you from your next class." She announced.

"Um of the course professor." He said as he made his way to the front of the classroom and sat his bag down on a desk and stood in front of the row of desks.

"Mr. Potter I find myself feeling a mix of emotions. When I heard that you had assaulted another student I did not know how to feel, I felt as if I had failed you, and as if I failed your parents." She said slowly mulling over her words, Harry was fairly certain her eyes had taken on a glassy quality as well. "It was only after I heard that it was Draco Malfoy that I began to think perhaps I needed to hear the full story so I tracked down Susan Bones and had her explain the situation to me. Harry, I am so proud of you. For standing up for yourself... For standing up for others in the face of a known bully. I would award you points if I could, but alas I can not as the Headmaster has taken the case into his own hands."

"I don't know what to say, mam, I just wanted to make sure we were safe," Harry said as he leaned against the desk behind him.

" Be that as it may, I just wanted you to know that I am personally proud of you, and in the future, if you decide to pursue any... advanced forms of transfiguration, I would be happy to assist you in the endeavor," Minerva stated as she looked down at the paperwork in front of her.

Harry was stunned, that kind of talk, that kind of offer... He would have to double-check his Grimoire and perhaps get Hermione to do some looking around, but he was fairly certain that kind of offer was reserved for Apprentices and those were exceedingly rare and to be apprenticed to Professor McGonagall would get him many places.

"Thank you, mam, I will think about your words carefully," Harry said as the best approximation of good manners he could come up with on the spot in his stunned state.

He made his way to his next class in a daze of steps and deep thoughts. He scored adequately on the classwork and he cast the spell of the week on his first try, but he barely paid attention to it. He needed to talk to Ron and probably Susan.

The first time he could get everyone alone it was ironically in the library in their own little hidden area. When he dropped the news of his punishment and McGonagall's words he was met with wide eyes and silence before Susan squeaked and launched herself at him wrapping him in a hug. Hermione gave him an odd look but he shrugged his shoulders.

"Harry you have no idea what that means. She could teach you so much advanced transfiguration! So much theory! So much WOW! She may even fast track you into the ultimate type of transfiguration becoming an Animagus. Guys this is a huge deal!" Susan announced excitedly. Ron's face was unreadable before he shook himself and clapped Harry on the shoulder and gave him a giant grin. Hermione didn't quite know what to do with herself so she followed the example Susan gave and made her way over and also wrapped Harry in a hug.

"Everyone is seeing your brilliance now Harry, just don't forget about us on the way..." Hermione whispered into the hug.

"I can't very well forget about my friends, can I? No matter what happens, we will stick it out together." Harry said firmly smiling at Hermione who didn't meet his eye.

It was a few days later when Harry was informed of what his punishment would be, a night acting as Hagrid's aids in the Forbidden Forrest. He was informed he was to meet at Hagrid's Hut after classes ended, and they would be doing manual labor for the evening.

"Alright, you twoins." Hagrid bellowed as he stepped out of his hut. "To start with you will be shovelin out some of the dirt into a pile. The areas already marked getta movin," Hagrid said as he supervised them while mixing several things into buckets slightly out of their view. The day continued like that for several hours until nightfall, by that time both Harry and Draco who had been trading barbs back and forth were exhausted and ready to call it a day.

"Inside you two. Poppy gave me this for the two of ya, told me to give em to ya with some dinner from the elves and a large glass of water and it'll perk ya right up she did." Hagrid said putting a plate and a glass in each of their hands along with a small red vial barely longer than Harry's pointer finger. Both boys ate ravenously, tearing into the food with abandon. When they were finished they looked at each other pulled the plugs from the vials and downed them then began chugging the water they had been given. It still tasted as if Harry's mouth had been bathed in sour cherry gel. As he sat there digesting the food Hagrid sat in front of both he and Draco with a large crossbow in his lap.

"Now you two listen up and listen good, fer once we go in that forest your walkin into a situation where ye could be hurt. You stay with me and Fang and ye run if I tell ye to run do ya understand? No funny business, something is hunting in the woods and it's messin with the natural order. Whatever it is it's got the Acrumantula's the school harvests their silk from in a tissy and the less we speak of the Centaurs the better." Harry nodded along solemnly.

"Can we defend ourselves?" Draco's voice wavered slightly.

Ahh course, ya didn't think they'de be sending ya in there without a weapon did ya? You can use any spell ya been taught as long as ya use it to keep yourself safe. Now take some time to digest your potion and then we'll be headin out." Hagrid said as he turned around and started gathering arrows.


	17. The First of Many Fated Encounters

The walk into the forest was not good for Harry's psyche, everywhere he looked he saw shadows jumping out at him, around every darkened tree there was another person ready to beat him down and throw him into a cupboard or throw him into a janitor's closet and lock the door. His breath came out through clenched teeth as he tried to stay grounded in the right here and now. He almost hoped Hagrid told them to run so he could get out of this terrifying forest. Speaking of Hagrid, he was up ahead of them crossbow at the ready with his large dog Fang padding along right next to him. Draco was beside him staying as close to the center of the path as he could physically manage. He had expected remarks and jeers about how he was acting, but it seemed Draco was no better off than he was judging by the way he clutched his wand in a white knuckled fist and every time a noise came from the forest he spun in that direction wand pointed outward.

"You two alright back there?" Hagrid called as he came across a large tree and placed his giant hand against it. "Beyond this point we're crossing over into the section of the forest that the inhabitants control. You stay on the path and don't go wanderin now." Fang barked at them as he sniffed the ground and then pointed toward the path on the left. Hagrid patted his head, and then began down that same path leaving Harry and Draco behind him. Harry saw Draco glance at him out of the corner of his eye in shock at just how deep they were going.

"Lunatics, bloody lunatics." Draco announced as he made to follow the path Hagrid had ambled down. "Sending two students into the Forbidden Forest at night without a wizard capable of defending them."

"It does seem rather short sited." Harry muttered from next to him. Draco looked surprised at the fact that Harry was agreeing with him.

"Potter, I hate to say this, but if something happens out here, I don't trust him to keep us safe, I do however respect your ability enough to know that if something jumps us you won't die without a fight. I say we stick together and watch each other's backs. So we both make it out of this alive… Deal?" Draco announced under his breath.

Harry weighed the pros and cons. Draco was a jerk and he had thrown minor jinxes at him before, but never anything life threatening. Harry's eyes moved to the blackened magical scar around Draco's wrist standing out starkly against his pale skin. Could he trust him? A noise from the forest in front of him hastened his decision.

"Deal. You watch mine I'll watch yours. Now let's catch back up, I don't want to get lost out here." Harry said as he hustled forward to catch up to Hagrid's retreating form. Draco joined him a moment later just as Hagrid broke through a bramble wall and came face to face with a spider the size of a large dog. While most spiders didn't bother Harry due to how used to seeing them in the enclosed spaces he was used to, this was different. This thing could eat him if given half a chance, it was insanely large. He was fairly certain he heard Draco's breath catch next to him when he saw it.

The spider chittered at them for a few seconds before hurrying deeper into the thicket of brambles. Hagrid glanced backwards at the two of them and then back at the nest of brambles in front of him before announcing "You two won't be able to make it through these thick brambles without tearin yourselves to shreds. There's a path that leads around the brambles, but the way that spider reacted means it knows we will follow and it's leading us somewhere. If you two see anything or hear anything you run back for the hut and you wait for me. There won't be a punishment for it neither, I gotta follow it directly." With that Hagrid burst through the brambles before they closed back around him.

"He left us, he just left us to fend for ourselves in the middle of a forest of deadly creatures." Draco wailed from next to him before Harry clamped a hand over his mouth and shushed him. Harry looked around the area and quickly drug Draco along the path Hagrid had been talking about. It was overgrown and had strings of brambles across it, but not nearly as many as the path Hagrid had taken. Draco got a grip on himself about halfway down the path. He shook himself and nodded toward Harry taking deep breaths as he went.

"Sorry, I lost control of myself. I just can't believe that this is happening." He was glancing around as they kept moving down the quickly deteriorating path. It wasn't long before there was no path at all. Harry pushed his wand outward and with a flick of his wrist and a muttered "Lumos Maxima" Suddenly the end of his wand had extended several inches with an oblong length of resplendent pale purple light. "This variant of the spell allows for much more light, but at the cost of power output. Professor Quirrell taught it to me as a reward." He announced for Draco who gave him a contemplating look.

"Interesting," Draco remarked, he would have to look into the spell when he had time. "Why do your spells always come out that purple color when you overpower them?" Draco asked hesitantly, he knew he and Harry were not on good terms, so he was already expecting to be told to mind his own business.

"Professor Dumbledore thinks it's because my magic is so dense. It makes it easier to cast more draining spells, but harder to cast simple ones, and if I ever pursue rune-work I will have to be very careful to not overcharge them." Harry responded as he swung his makeshift light around looking for threats. He had yet to find anything of note beyond the fact that the path was now completely gone, and they were basically stumbling through the forest's overgrown underbrush.

They continued on skirting the giant bramble nest for another ten minutes before coming across what looked like a clearing ahead of them. Harry let out a sigh of relief, he was starting to feel closed in with all the trees around him. It was only when they broke through did they realize how badly they had messed up. Lying on the ground in front of them was what Harry could only assume was a Unicorn, its pale white coat marred and bloody with silver flecks of its own lifeblood. It made no noise, so Harry assumed it was already dead and the giant open wound on its neck backed up this theory.

"That's not good." Draco muttered next to him. "Unicorns are creatures of life, something murdering it is dark, really really dark…"

"You know that's not really reassuring right." Harry replied as he moved forward to the dead creature and knelt next to it. He placed a hand on its body and was surprised when he felt how warm it was. Wait if it was still warm that meant that it had died recently right? He spun around quickly and launched himself back to the other side of the clearing. "Draco, we have to go NOW!" He said running back toward their entrance when he ran into a barrier, it sparkled and shifted where he touched it applying force.

"Not good, not good, not good" He said as he pressed against the barrier trying to force his way through, it was only then that he noticed that Draco was not next to him, he looked behind him and saw why. Draco was staring across the clearing semi-close to the body of the dead unicorn, something was walking toward them from the darkness of the forest.

"A good reaction, but sadly to late. I had planned to trap a centaur for an additional feast of life blood, but what do I find but Harry Potter in my little trap. It seems fate was not so willing to be on your side tonight rather unlike all those years ago." The figure announced as it stepped through the rippling bubble like structure into the clearing.

"Who are you?" Harry yelled across the clearing pointing his wand at the figure, they were tall and covered in a black cloak that kept their features hidden, however even from here he could see flecks of silver at the hood, a sign that this was the person who had killed the unicorn.

"How rude, it is common courtesy to give your name first you know, but I can forgive that, you are young and still have so much to learn." The figure announced as it stopped on its own side of the clearing. "You there!" The figure called out gesturing toward Draco "Who would you be?" Draco seemed stunned "Malfoy." He let out after only a breath, how was Harry standing there with all this pressure coming off of this guy? It was like when he stood next to Dumbledore when he was casting spells. The sheer presence made him want to crumple on the ground.

"Draco! Get over here." Harry yelled at him desperately.

"Oh, you will find that he won't be doing much moving at all I'm afraid, you see he is currently under a great deal of pressure. My own magic suffuses the air around me, those with less than half my current magic levels find it to be a… crushing force to contend with. It is interesting that you show no signs of it affecting you however, a child with that much magical energy could be dangerous. Yes… dangerous, but also interesting." The figure said as it swept its hands through the air dramatically.

"What do you want? We're just kids, surely we won't be worth much energy to you?" Harry tried hoping that the figure agreed with him.

"Hmm that is an interesting theory, yes I find myself intrigued. You may go Harry Potter one day we may battle but it is not today, however your young friend will not be leaving. You may provide a fight, but he will be easy prey to one such as myself." The figure said as it took a few steps toward the petrified Draco who couldn't do much more then audibly gasp.

"Flipendo!" The figure lept backwards dodging the bright purple whip of energy and looked toward Harry to see him with his wand out and pointed at him. "Sorry I'm not letting you take Draco, he may be a jerk, but he doesn't deserve to die."

Here the figure let out a single chuckle "He is worthless! A weakling not even worth the air he breathes." The figure began to say something else, but instead staggered backwards and let out a cry of pain as an arrow sprouted from his shoulder. As soon as that happened Harry noticed several things all at once, the barrier behind him shattered like glass, breaking into millions of tiny shards that faded into the air. Suddenly there were three half horse half man creatures galloping into the clearing, and finally that the figure after taking stock of the situation turned into a black mass of smoke and dispersed into the air leaving only the arrow that had been in his shoulder laying on the ground the head of which stained bright red with blood.

"Firenze! It was not our place to interfere!" One of the centaurs shouted to another who was holding a bow.

"You misunderstand the signs; I am the Stargazer and I deemed it necessary." The centaur with the bow now named Firenze answered back. He trotted over first to the body of the unicorn and after checking that it truly was dead, he turned around and began making his way back towards Harry who still had is wand raised.

"Who are you?" Harry said hoping that the way his voice wavered was lost on the creatures.

"We are of the centaur tribe that makes this forest our home, and we know of you Harry Potter. You are either incredibly brave or incredible foolish to stand up to Voldemort as you did. It seems that the shifting of the stars did not lie." Firenze said as he looked upward through the opening in the canopy of the trees looking at the fading stars that were being replaced by the first part of sunlight.

"That was Voldemort?" Draco let out in a strangled voice.

"Indeed, young one, you should be most thankful to your friend, you owe him your life. Voldemort would have drained you of your life essence within moments." The third centaur who had been quiet up to this point spoke.

"Indeed, it is most fortunate that we were able to interfere." The second centaur who had previously berated Firenze said with sarcasm. "Firenze bring them to Hagrid; we will speak when you return."

Firenze didn't respond instead offering his hand to Harry who took it after a moment's hesitation. The feeling of being lifted onto the centaur's back was strange, but he decided not to comment on it. A few moments later Draco joined him, and they were off through the forest faster than the blink of an eye. Harry was sure he had never moved so fast in his life not even in Uncle Vernon's car.

"You will find Hagrid's Hut just through these trees, you will stay there and wait for him do you understand?" Harry could only nod and agree with the commanding tone that Firenze used and before he could even thank him Firenze was already gone. Draco stood next to him for all of twenty seconds before he began puking and then promptly passed out after uttering "Voldemort tried to kill me."

Harry moved to grab Draco before he hit the ground and succeeded at the last moment hauling the boy to his feet. Slowly, he began the task of essentially dragging Draco back to Hagrid's Hut where he laid him in one of the chairs that sat inside the building. Harry collapsed into another chair shortly after feeling more and more run down as everything from the night caught up with him. As the adrenaline faded from his system he felt his eyes get heavier and heavier and before long he could keep them open no longer.


	18. Debts Owed and Stories Told

Author's Note: First off all I would like to thank you all for the absolute review bomb I got. I tried to reply to all of you, but several of your inboxes were full so I will be answering them here.

Harry's guardianship was one of the things I really wanted to flesh out, and it mostly made sense that Dumbledore would advocate for someone with such a sterling reputation as Amelia Bones who has connections and a fierce reputation on short notice. In the future he will probably bounce around a bit, but I hope you can see the reasoning for all the moves as they happen throughout the story. I try to evoke a thinking response in my writing as I feel it helps keep readers involved in the story!

Draco's going to be a part of this story one way or the other. I always felt like he was criminally underutilized in canon. Originally if you had been following this story for awhile it was marked Draco Bashing, but as my plans evolved it moved away from that and more into a rival scenario, and I believe a lot of that rivalry really starts in this most recent chapter. Voldemort knew who he was and was still going to use him. This should give Draco a good culture shock moving forward and is the jumpstart to his (background) character arc.

I'm glad people think that this story has an original spin on it, I'm trying incredibly hard to keep it moving in the right direction for the notes I have!

To the fellow who remarked that Harry runs to Dumbledore for every problem. I'm sorry you feel that way. My reasoning for this is that Dumbledore is one of the first adults who has really shown any interest in Harry's wellbeing. It makes perfect sense from a common sense and a psychological viewpoint that he would do so, however keep your eyes open for the next couple chapters. Harry is going to be showing some problem solving of his own very soon.

Any questions anyone has about the story can either be posted as a review or messaged to me directly. I will respond to them either way. Now on to the fic!

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When Harry woke next it was to Hagrid shaking him awake with all the grace of one of aunt Marge's dogs tearing into a new bone. Harry jerked as he finally caught up with the sensation of being awake.

"What happened ta you two?" Hagrid asked gruffly. Harry took a deep breath before launching into as detailed an analysis as he could of what happened. He was about halfway through when Draco cut across him adding a detail in to which Harry nodded and then continued.

"Come on then, we best get ya up to Poppy. Draco still can't stand without wobbling and you aren't looking so well Harry." Hagrid said worriedly. If Harry was honest, he didn't feel to well either. His skin felt clammy and his scar felt like that time Dudley had spiked his head off of the banister at the bottom of the steps at the Dursley's house. A deep resounding pain accompanied with the skin becoming tender and being very sensitive to any touch.

Harry tried to stand only to find himself on uneven footing and the only thing that kept him upright was Fang walking behind him applying enough pressure that he didn't fall right back into the chair he had just been in. Hagrid led them through the grounds into the front doors. Luckily the early morning meant that no students outside of the Slytherin Prefect Harry had met on the stairs saw them. The Prefect gave them odd looks but nodded first towards Draco and then Harry. Harry wasn't entirely certain what the nod meant, but he hoped that it was confirmation that the Prefect would not say anything to anyone.

The trip to the Hospital Wing was not overtly long so much as it was… uneventful. They met no other students, no other faculty, the exception being Nearly Headless Nick who Hagrid asked if he could fetch Dumbledore. By the time that Hagrid had opened the colored glass of the Infirmary door, they were met with a party of individuals only some of which Harry knew.

There was McGonagall, standing there with a pensive look on her face, Dumbledore who to Harry was unreadable, Madam Pomfrey who already looked like she was going to throw both Draco and he into beds, and finally two figures he didn't know both tall and with blonde hair, who he assumed were Draco's parents. The man had a very angular face with high cheekbones lending him an aristocratic look, the image only being helped by the very nice clothes he wore, and the diamond tipped cane he leaned against. He was not a very large man his shoulders not being very wide and there was not a bit of excess weight to him, the space he did take up however was clearly all his own as if he commanded the area he stood in. The woman stood just slightly shorter than the man coming up only to slightly higher than his shoulder, this only seeming to add to her very apparent beauty. Her face was not quite so angular as the man's, instead she had a very soft features in the area around her eyes and chin. Her hair had dark roots which turned blonde as it traveled downward to the middle of her back, and the way her eyes caught the light made them seem very dark and intense.

"Please the both of you sit, sit." Pomfrey said guiding them to a twin pair of beds. Draco sat on one and Harry sat on the other facing him.

"Potter, I should have known it would be something to do with you, and to say that I'm not in the least bit surprised that this came about under his supervision" Here the blonde man pointed at Hagrid with his cane "could go without saying. I swear Dumbledore, first a dragon and now an incident in the forest, I should have Hagrid thrown out for endangering the students and Mr. Potter expelled." The man spoke with disdain evident in his voice.

"Mr. Malfoy… Lucius I think you will find that the dragon incident has already been sorted if you have paid attention to your mailings. As for this incident there is…" Dumbledore was attempting to continue when a hush fell around the room after mumbling was heard. At first Dumbledore glanced at Harry expecting it to have been him, but he found that instead Harry was staring wide eyed at Draco.

"Mr. Malfoy could you repeat what you just said?" It was McGonagall who had spoken first

"I said that Voldemort is the one who was attacking the unicorn, and Harry saved my life." That bomb was met with absolute silence and shared looks all around. Dumbledore glanced at McGonagall who flicked her wand and the doors to the infirmary slammed shut.

"Perhaps we should hear the whole story." Lucius said haltingly, panic clear in his voice.

So Harry and Draco told the story once again, filling in details of how Harry and Draco agreed to work together, of the barrier they unwittingly stumbled into, and the encounter with Voldemort followed then by the centaurs.

"He saved my life." Draco repeated afterwards "if Harry hadn't been there Voldemort would have killed me on the spot. He was so close I could see the silver blood from the unicorn on his lips and the first hints of fangs in his mouth."

"Draco, you must be very clear right now, Did Harry casting that spell save your life? There was nothing you could have done at all to save yourself?" The woman spoke as she clutched her hands together.

" Yes, He did this thing. It was like I was being suffocated and my legs wouldn't move no matter how much I tried to move." Draco answered instantly. The color drained from both Malfoy parents faces and Dumbledore's as well who spoke next.

"Voldemort was known for that technique, when he entered the battlefield his very presence crushed those who weren't prepared for it. It was devastating in the early days of his first rise. Hundreds died when he took the field because they simply could not react, he called it something along the line of "Senatus Virtutem"(1). It is an immensely draining spell, but as young Draco can attest it is overwhelming. We have something else to speak of and I'm sure Narcissa and Lucius know of what I'm speaking. A debt may have been formed." The last of his statement was said very seriously as if it carried great weight.

"Debt?" Harry asked in confusion "He doesn't owe me anything, he was going to die it was the right thing to do."

"Ah, but you see that is the crux of the problem. You saved young Draco with no expectation of gain, even worse since you were enemies the debt may be even larger as you would have been just as well to leave him. Magic is its own defining source Harry. There are several types of magic that exist outside the bounds of what we consider normal. In an upcoming lesson I will explain some of these more nuanced magics to you. For now however it is vital we find out if a bond has formed."

"Allow me Dumbledore, the Black family has a spell for such an occasion that is quite useful. It will be even more effective consider he has Black blood within him" Narcissa announced before standing and drawing her wand. Harry raised an eyebrow, her maiden name must have been Black then, why did that name seem so familiar to him, and what was that about him having Black blood?

"Debitum Officium Vinculum" She intoned pointing her wand at Harry who stared at the tip of her wand point in distrust. Almost immediately a deep red line sprouted from Draco's chest and connected itself to Harry's chest. Several other lines of varying colors soon joined themselves connecting to Harry, however they came from outside the room and would be invisible to whoever they connected to as they were not in the presence of the spell being cast.

"There is a heavy life debt owed to you from my son." Narcissa said appraisingly.

Harry looked around the room. Why was it every time he tried to help people strange things were always the result?!

(Senatus Virtutem: Decree of Power. A spell Voldemort himself created, that takes half of his own magical energy to cast, but once cast can be maintained with a much smaller constant flow of magic, allowing for Voldemort to cast this spell before battle and then prepare himself with almost his full magical capabilities.)

(Debitum Officium Vinculum: Bond of Debt and Obligation: A Black family spell that shows the strings of life debts. This more in-depth version of the standard spell also shows how powerful the debt is from a white color being practically nothing to a deep red showing that a debt is massive. The spell is especially effective when used on someone with Black blood and can not be fooled by any magics if cast on someone with Black blood.)


	19. A Deadly Challenge

Author's Note: I just really want to say that I appreciate you guys so much. I've had a terrible week but checking my views and comments on my stories really brought me out of the funk I was in.

"So, what will we be covering Headmaster?" Harry asked as he glanced around the office once again. It always seemed like he saw something new every time he came here. Small brass and silver mechanical items ticked and hummed on a table in the corner of the room, the portraits spread throughout the room talked amongst themselves as more and more filtered in. It seemed like he always had an audience when his lessons with Dumbledore happened, they gathered in corners of portraits and brought seats and food along with them. He swore he saw more than once people he knew were in portraits on the far side of the castle, seemingly they were all connected because they would pass throughout different portraits into one another without care or pause. His attention was quickly drawn back to himself when he felt a familiar weight land on his left shoulder, where he automatically moved to stroke the soft feathers around Fawkes' chest. Harry almost had to laugh at the indignant noise that Hedwig made from his other shoulder, so he quickly reached up and gave her some affection as well.

She was here at the behest of Dumbledore himself along with several other items, including his wand, the Potter Invisibility Cloak, and his potion kit. It had been a bit of juggling act getting all the items Dumbledore requested, but he had made it fairly easily, especially when the gargoyle outside the office saw him coming and stepped aside without even needing the password stating to him" You've come here enough that I know you don't really need to be stopped and questioned." Harry was brought back to the present when he heard.

"Today we will be speaking of bonds, and how Magic connects us both to each other and the items we use. As Narcissa showed in the infirmary a week ago there are spells that show how these strings tie together. My intention is to explain this to you in detail as it now has become apparent that you may have more than one Debt entitled to you. My deepest apologies that I did not cover this earlier, it simply did not occur to me that it would be needed so early." Dumbledore said as he wrote on several pieces of parchment trying to finish them as quickly as he could. After sighing to himself he spoke once again. "I apologize Harry, I had hoped to have this finished long before you came, but the amount of work has seemingly caught up to me. I fear that I will need to go to the Ministry before long to deal with what seems to be a massive issue"

Harry sat quietly showing equal amounts of affection to both Fawkes and Hedwig as he continued to look around the room. After a few more minutes of work Dumbledore let out a deep sigh as he folded several sheets of paper into individual piles before tapping them with his wand in which they disappeared a few moments later.

"Now then, as I said, we will be looking into the way Magic connects things and people together. The spell I will be using is "Hospites Revelatum" It is the simplest spell for this purpose and even someone with a weak grasp of spellwork can cast it." Dumbledore explained as he flicked his wand in a downward arc which made the room explode with translucent white strings that tied back to himself.

"Now this is a fairly simple spell and only shows when my magic has touched something which can be useful but lacks any kind of details. The next spell I will show you is "Hospites Revelatum Opim" This version will show lines with slight tinges of color showing how connected they are to me." And as Dumbledore spoke, he repeated the same movements and this time the lines that materialized were of a rainbow of colors. Notably, several deep red lines came from around the room and tied to Dumbledore's heart, one came from Fawkes who trilled once in a high note, another came from a closed closet nearby, and finally there was one tied to a photo that showed four people in its focus three boys and a younger girl moved around the photo making faces and generally acting like kids. The lines faded a few moments later leaving nothing to show off their previous connections. Dumbledore gestured to Harry for him to attempt his own casting of the spell.

"Hospites Revelatum Opim" Harry announced with a quick downward flick of his wand. The resulting pull on his magic was minimal, like taking a glass of water from a lake. The strings reappeared with a wash of colors all connecting to Harry. He saw a deep pink line connect Hedwig to himself first which wasn't surprising to him, after all Hedwig and he had always had a strong bond. A surprised sound from Dumbledore drew his attention who was looking at the pink string with interest. After Dumbledore waved him off, he looked for other threads. His wand had a deep black line to himself, but also a line leading to Fawkes that was silver in appearance. The Potter Family Cloak had a vibrant purple line from the clasp to his heart. His potions set had a white line connected to him as well, so he figured Dumbledore had meant for that to be a control of sorts to show him what a simple item looked like.

"Now Harry, you have observed the different connections around you, I'd like your opinion on what each of them means." Dumbledore spoke with a smile as he enjoyed the faces Harry made while considering what the different colors meant.

"Well, starting from easiest to hardest, the white line from my potions set implies that it has no special connection to me either than the fact that my magic has attached to it. I noticed that the purple color of the attachment to my cloak was the same color as my magic in general, which makes me think it may be family magic tying itself to me because I'm a Potter. Uhm, the black line from my wand might be like ownership? Like it connects directly to me so that's my thought process. I have no clue about the silver line attached to Fawkes from my wand though. Finally, there is the bright pink line attached to Hedwig, I'm not entirely certain why it is pink, because just like my wand I own her, but that doesn't seem right because the colors would be the same." Harry explained pointing toward the different objects as he went into his thoughts.

"Very astute Harry, a few notes, however. A black bond shows that a wand has given its allegiance to a wizard, it is very common to see this type of bond when casting this spell. The silver line shows that the item is connected through its very being. In the case of the silver line from your wand, well I would hazard a guess that your wand core is that of a phoenix feather correct? You may wonder how I know this, but the answer is simple. Your wand is from Olivander and as far as I know he has only ever made two wands with phoenix feather cores as it is such a rare component, and Fawkes was the one who donated those feathers." Dumbledore explained in detail gesturing to Fawkes who trilled softly before flying over and landing on Dumbledore's shoulder and leaning into the old man.

"That's incredible sir. Fawkes is such an amazing creature." Harry said in wonder while gazing at Fawkes in awe.

"I'm glad you feel that way Harry, because I believe that you will one day end up with a Phoenix of your own." Dumbledore said with mirth in his voice at the sudden sight of Hedwig ruffling up her feathers at the thought of Harry being taken from her. Harry was speechless at this news, but before he could say anything Dumbledore continued "You see Harry a pink line of such vibrancy is an indication of a Familiar Bond. They are extremely rare in our world very few wizards ever find their familiar and even fewer still have the magical power to allow them to reach a higher stage of being. Your magic itself has attached to Hedwig and as such she has become more intelligent than a normal owl and has become much more advanced. I believe one day, when your core has developed enough you may find that Hedwig begins to change. If this should happen, I implore you to contact me as it can be a very dangerous event. She will be a beauty I can assure you of that." Dumbledore said as he watched both Harry and Hedwig turn and look at each other.

"There is one other type of bond that is not represented here. It is called A Life Debt or a Debt Bond, this is what young Draco now owes you. These are simple to to explain in some parts and difficult in others. The forming of a Life Debt is easy, when you do something to save someone with no intent of reward a debt is sometimes formed if Magic deems it so. These can be small debts or large debts, the range of which is based on the act that forged the bond. You saving Draco's life formed a massive debt from him to you. The complicated part comes next. As you are both parts of ancient magical houses there are certain rites and rituals that come with these types of bonds. Until such a time as we gain access to your family vault we can do nothing about this bond.

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Harry sat at the table across from Hermione and Ron while Susan sat to his right along with her friend Hannah who everyone at the table was friendly with. They were all studying for their upcoming exams when Hermione dropped the book she was reading and gasped. This elicited several confused glances that she shrunk under while her face gained some color to it. She quickly began writing as fast as she could on a piece of parchment which was then folded in half and slid in front of Harry. Harry glanced at Hermione with confusion on his face, but quickly unfolded the sheet to see her swirly handwriting

"I found out who "Master Flammel" is! It's Nicholas Flammel and his treasure is the Philosopher's Stone. It makes perfect sense." Harry's eyes widened as he realized that Hermione was definitely right. He thought about how he had read Nicholas' name not even two weeks ago and hadn't made the connection at all.

He quickly wrote back on the note "Okay, but still if Voldemort is able to get into the forest, then he might be able to get into the castle. We just aren't ready for that kind of fight." Before sliding it back across the table.

Hermione quickly grabbed it and scanned what was written before slashing across the paper rather viciously three times then began writing. Harry noticed that he was getting giggled at from his right and met the gaze of Hannah and Susan who were the source of the noise. He raised his eyebrow at them, and they quickly looked away while whispering to each other. Honestly girls confused him more and more when he dealt with them! The note that was put back in front of him had the word fight underlined three times with the words "Tell Dumbledore?" attached with a line. Harry covered the letter with his arm keeping Susan who was trying to peek at it from seeing. "He probably already knows, no need." Hermione took the note back and nodded at him before stashing it into her bag. The group soon broke apart after that with Hannah and Susan excusing themselves to go to Herbology. As the trio walked from the library up the grand staircase to their Transfiguration class, they passed Professor Quirrell who nodded toward them and made eye contact with Harry before he stumbled slightly and about fell. He quickly righted himself grabbing hold of the banister before excusing himself hurriedly. Harry shrugged at his friends before quickly moving forward up the stairs in the same direction that they had been traveling in before.

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Harry jerked awake in a cold sweat from a nightmare that seemed so realistic it left him shivering. He had seen Hermione, Susan, and Ron being dragged from their beds making absolutely no noise even as they opened their mouths to scream. He had seen them being thrown into the trapdoor under the Cerberus in the third-floor corridor, but that couldn't be right. After all Ron was sound asleep in the bed next to him. Just to allay his fears he got up and grabbed his glasses from the hook he left them on which was attached to one of the four corners of his bed. After situating them he swept the drapes of his bed aside to see Ron's curtains were parted slightly. It felt like a stone dropped in his stomach as he shuffled over to the bed where he found a note sitting on Ron's pillow. The writing was simple, and Harry was sure he had seen it before, but it was the words that shook him

"Come to the third-floor corridor alone and head into the trapdoor under the Cerberus. I will know if you go anywhere else. If you don't come the lives of your three friends are forfeit."

Harry almost dropped the note, but instead clenched his fist, he wanted to scream and yell. This rage was strange it didn't feel anything like when he had been angry at Draco. Harry had been angry before, but nothing like this. He felt like he had so much energy and he could see a slight purple haze coiling off of himself disappearing into the air above him. He changed into robes quickly, grabbed the Potter Invisibility Cloak, and was down the steps and past the Fat Lady within three minutes.

He had just gained friends he would NOT be losing them, even if it put him into danger.

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"Hospites Revelatum"= Connections Revealed the simplest version of the bond revealing spell.

"Hospites Revelatum Opim"= Connections Revealed but stronger, Opim acting as a modifier to the spell allowing for more detail to be added.


	20. Rage Brings Power, but is it Enough?

Making it to the third-floor corridor was a joke with the invisibility cloak in his possession, even as he moved at a hurried pace and passed right in front of several people all they heard was the sound of his shoes hitting the floor. Right under the nose of Filch and Snape he traveled in basically straight lines not using the secret shortcut the twins had shown him for fear of his friends' kidnapper thinking he had run off for help.

Ten minutes, ten long minutes it took for him to get to the third-floor corridor and that specific door. He inched along slowly now, weary of what could be in front of him. He knew the Cerberus was here, waiting, watching guarding over its treasure.

When he swung the door open wide and had his wand out at the ready to battle the ferocious beast he was vastly surprised to find that instead of rearing its heads back and growling deeply at him it was instead asleep as a beautiful ivory harp played a soft melody that filled the room with its quiet notes. Harry thanked his good luck as he moved very quickly to the trapdoor that was still open near where the large dogs' paws laid. Harry tried peering down the hole in front of him, but could make out no real detail through the deep darkness. He wanted to groan at what he was about to do but didn't want to risk waking up the sleeping dog behind him so instead he grabbed the cloak around him and lept into the hole.

Falling from a great height was nothing new to Harry so he already instinctively knew to keep his figure wide ready to land and possibly roll on impact. The invisibility cloak fluttered behind him working to slow his decent a bit as the fabric seemingly resisted the intense wind that rushed by his face. He landed with his knees bent his feet squishing whatever he had landed on, by the noise his shoes made when he walked, it was also slimy. It was still very dark, but he could see the outline of a door on the far side of the room. Slowly he picked his way across whatever it was that littered the floor until he felt something snake up his ankle and wrap around his pants leg. To say he jumped would be an understatement along the same lines of saying that the hurried "INCENDIO!" that left a black scorch mark on the floor was a tad bit overpowered. Harry looked first toward his wand and then at the floor, that spell was to strong for his normal casting, he hadn't even added any extra power to it.

"Lumos Maxima" Harry uttered with a slight jab of his wand which revealed the room he was standing in was now filled with retreating vines and plants, several of which had been unhealthily close to wrapping around him. However, he also noticed that several sections of the plant seemed damaged, burnt at the ends and he was sure he hadn't caused that. He picked his way through what was left of the room swinging his extended light around while noting in his mind that this was Devil's Snare. Not a supremely deadly plant, but incredibly vexing if one wasn't careful. It could capture you and keep you held immobile for hours, and if the plant was old enough possibly kill you through suffocation, though this one did not look old enough to do so by his own guess. He opened the door quickly and slammed it shut behind him to keep the plant from attempting to get him while he wasn't looking.

The pathway lead him slightly downhill sloping to another door that Harry could tell just by looking at it had to be at least two feet thick and made of a sturdy hardwood. It took him a bit of force to open the door, but when he did, he was instantly assaulted with the noise of hundreds of pairs of wings. Harry looked up quickly, after all wings meant flying, flying meant up, he was met with a high vaulted ceiling and probably two hundred strange looking keys with translucent wings fluttering around. Once he realized that the keys weren't overtly interested in him, he brought his view back down and scanned the room, just like before there was a large door on the far side of the room. Other things of note in the room were the four broomsticks next to the door he had just entered from, and the absolute pile of keys that littered the floor easily numbering over one hundred, their wings crushed leaving them unmoving. Harry dashed to the door careful to not trip over the enormous pile of keys, but as he made his way across, he noticed a glaring difference in this door. An intricate silver bit of metal work was inlaid in the very center of the door. As Harry drew closer, he saw that it was some form of lock and suddenly the point of the room made sense. He was to find the correct key and use it to leave. Harry once more looked to the ceiling trying to find a key that may fit the lock in front of him, and after a minute of searching he saw one bright silver key that intentionally kept doubling backwards disappearing into the swarm. Harry glanced toward the brooms, but quickly dismissed the idea, he didn't know how effective he would be on a broom and he was sure that as soon as he went skyward the keys would not be overtly welcoming of his presence.

"Well, that's one plan down, what's my next plan?" Harry muttered to himself angrily, perhaps some extra time on a broom would have helped him here. Suddenly though he was struck with an idea, and he once again raised his eyes toward the roiling mass of keys and searched for the intricate silver key that was attempting to hide itself. Once locating it he watched it for a time waiting for it to do its next double back trick, and once it did he held out his hand and muttered the spell he was thinking of dumping a large amount of energy into the casting. "Accio Silver Key" The pull on his magic was significant enough to take notice of, perhaps fifteen percent of his total had been used, and then been amplified by the strange purple energy that still came off of him in waves. The result left Harry with a deep cut across his palm where the key had been forcibly pulled into it, but an open door before him left him feeling victorious all the same.

The doorway lead him downward still, he figured by now he had to be deep below the castle at this point with the amount of distance he had covered. The next doorway loomed before him, and with little hesitation he shoved it open to find a massacre of stone and rubble. What were once obviously statues of some type now laid in heaps on top of a strangely patterned floor that had scorch marks and craters littered across it. Harry carefully skirted the entire battlefield taking great care to not touch anything for fear of any still active enchantments that lay on the stonework. By the time he reached the far side of the room he could see that what was once a doorway had been blasted apart leaving naught but a hole in the wall, clearly whoever was ahead of him had not been thrilled with these puzzles.

The next room was completely empty which made Harry even more wary than if there had been an obvious threat. Slowly he inched inward farther and farther until he felt a rush of magic and suddenly, he was surrounded by walls that slowly moved inward clearly attempting to crush him. Harry moved very quickly turning to the wall where he knew the next door would be. "Flippendo!" The jet of spellwork came out like a spear of light and impacted with the encroaching wall with enough force to crack it, which had the intended effect of blasting it backwards leaving Harry a tiny space to climb out of the enclosing box of walls and sprint over to the door which stood slightly opened.

Almost as soon as he passed the threshold, he felt sick to his stomach and had to lean against a wall to prevent himself falling over and tumbling down the set of stairs that were in front of him. He slid down the wall clutching his head, which had just begun radiating pain on such a scale he wondered if he was being tortured. He felt the tight grasp he kept around his magic slipping as the pain dug further and further into his skull like a nail being driven behind his eyes further and further.

The pain he felt drew him to and past the line of tears, and he clutched himself tightly. It was so intense he couldn't even open his eyes let alone react when he heard footsteps that sounded like thunderclaps to him.

"Hmm, how… unexpected. I wonder…" And suddenly the pain lit up like his life was ending due to having electricity poured through his veins. Suddenly, at the crescendo of his pain, long past the point of his voice having failed due to his pained screaming it ended. His body felt weightless and shook with tremors as he vaguely became aware of his body moving through the air not of its own accord. Slowly his pain-hazed mind made out the details of a person in front of him and almost painfully other details began turning up in a rush of information. They had exited the staircase swiftly and walked past a table with multiple potion bottles in an array of colors. A wall of flame greeted them, but whoever it was that was levitating his body scoffed and simply whipped his hand out and the flames extinguished themselves with nothing but a snap of air being displaced. He hit the ground roughly then and proceeded to roll down a short series of steps his movement only ending when he made contact with a pile of bodies that he swiftly recognized were his friends unconscious forms.

He crawled to his knees and checked on them finding that they were still breathing but wouldn't respond to his ministrations.

"They won't awaken. I've made sure of it." The same voice as before called out from a distance away. Harry looked in that direction only to be met with an unfamiliar face and a wave of vertigo from moving his head to quickly. The man was handsome, dashingly so if he was honest. His face had all the right points and lines which were only complimented by a bit of well-groomed black hair and hazel brown eyes that completed his look, He was tall and stood as if he owned the entire room around him.

"Who are you?" Harry croaked stressing his voice while he staggered to his feet wand drawn and pointed toward the figure.

"You don't recognize me? Ahh that's right you wouldn't recognize this form, allow me…" And with a pop there in front of him stood Professor Quirrell.

"I am Lord Voldemort, I took over your professor's body during Christmas Holidays and have been using this body as a disguise to get to the treasure being kept here." Voldemort explained his form twisting back to the tall young man. "You see this is my natural form, it is what I looked like long ago. It was truly a treat to be able to teach here finally after all these years it was a dream of mine once you know? But enough about me Harry, let's talk about you, and what you are going to do for me." Harry was on edge after that sentence his balanced was still off and he was barely keeping the room stable in his eyes. Finally, he forced his back to straighten so he could stand fully and at least appear as if he could defend himself.

"Ahh good, you still have that fire inside of you, I had worried that the pain in your scare from being so close to me had rendered you quite put out. You see Harry I find myself quite curious about you. Here is what will happen, you and I will duel and you will attempt to impress me. I simply wish to see how you have progressed in my absence." Voldemort continued as he moved downward to the lowest tier of the steps.

"Why would I do that?" Harry responded gritting his teeth. He wasn't against the idea in fact he really wanted to fire a full strength Incendio into his face right now, but he was sure he was out matched here.

"Oh well that's quite simple you will do it or I will kill your friends. You see Harry even as I was winning the last war, I found myself… unchallenged. Only Dumbledore himself could keep up with me along with a few others of no importance right now, and then that fateful day came were a mere baby reflected my own Killing Curse back at me. Only a Blessing of Magic could do something like that, and it was then I knew moments before my life was taken from me that you would one day be worthwhile." Here Voldemort paused as he levitated the three bodies of his friends and stuck them each to a pillar that surrounded the room, he only spoke again afterwards.

"Don't you see we are the Apex Harry? Even at your young age you tower above your peers both in skill and raw level of magic, I myself am only at a third of my natural lifespan and yet there are no challengers. We are different Harry, we are the lions hunting gazelles, I the dragon feasting upon the wildlife, the Basilisk hunting not for food, but for sport. I have only ever found five others who had stood at the apex, and now a sixth will join me at the summit. I don't want to kill you, you will live because I want you to grow and provide me with the challenge I so crave. Until that time however, you will duel me so I may evaluate your growth the next time we meet."

Harry was stunned by the impassioned speech he was just given, it did little to quell the fire growing around his rage however, and as soon as Voldemort took a ready position Harry launched forward an Incedio powered by his anger and twenty percent of his total magic. The ball of flame that launched from his wand was huge, and Harry could hear Voldemort laugh from the other side of it. Harry was sure he had hit the fool when he was consumed inside of the ball of glowing fire, however the fire simply disappeared snuffed out apparently by the power of Lord Voldemort.

"Very good Harry, now once again." Harry grit his teeth and launched a series of Diffindo's at Voldemort who simply conjured a floating shield of metal with a mural of a snake on the front of it to eat the attacks. Voldemort inspected the shield afterwards as Harry regained his breath. "Surprisingly deep and of a good length as well, excellent. Continue." Harry snarled at the man mocking him before quickly stepping back he pointed his wand at the ground and whispered "Fumos" in response his wand spit out a rolling cloud of dark smoke that obscured him from view. The cloud quickly drifted over to Voldemort who Harry could hear let out a "Hmm, good thickness, but black is so conventional." And suddenly the cloud was blown away and Harry could just make out Voldemort finishing a sweeping motion with his wand. Thankfully it didn't matter, Harry had done what he wanted; He had gotten to Voldemort's blind spot lining himself up with Voldemort in between him and an unoccupied pillar. Harry dropped every last bit of magic he had left, roughly thirty-five percent, and shouted "Flippendo" And flicked his wrist right at the end of the cast.

"Even if he moves the extra width should still strike him." Harry thought to himself as he began inching backwards.

Voldemort whirled around magical shield at the ready only for it to shatter and him to get hit by the spell and be launched backwards where he slammed into the pillar with a resounding crash. Letting out a wheezing cough "Very sneaky Harry and very powerful, I approve whole heartedly. Though I think that is enough for me to judge you." While saying this Voldemort stood once again and simply waved his hand drawing all three of Harry's friends in front of him. A moment later his hand ignited in a purple and green fire that shifted in tone and coloration while wicked faces and terrible looking monsters formed and disappeared in the depths of the flame.

"This, Harry, is FiendFyre, an unholy spell of great destructive properties controlled by the users will power. A single spark of this can grow into an unstoppable inferno. You will do as I say, or I will let it free on your friends." And with that Harry froze in his tracks all plans to continue casting forgotten. "You will solve the riddle of the mirror for me and obtain the stone or else there will not even be ash left of your friends." Harry turned and looked at the Mirror of Erised behind him wondering how he was supposed to solve a riddle he didn't know. When he fully turned around and approached the mirror, he saw a version of himself who smiled at him and reached into his pocket and showed a red crystal that refracted the light into an aurora of red colors.

"The stone can only be accessed by someone who does not want to use the stone. You do not wish to use the stone, you wish to save your friends. Worry not young Harry, no difficulties will fall on you for this, simply obtain the stone for me and it will all be over." Voldemort whispered in his ear causing Harry to jerk and his hand to instinctively go to the pocket where he felt the weight of the stone. Voldemort noticing this ripped the cloth of his pants with a cutting jinx allowing the stone to fall into his waiting hand.

"Well done Harry, now sleep." And with that Harry suddenly found it quite difficult to keep his eyes open he fought it as hard as he could, but Voldemort crouched in front of him and gave him a light push causing him to fall backwards on top of his friends. "Grow strong Harry, I expect great things from you Mr. Potter, terribly great things." With the last bits of consciousness leaving him Harry just made out Voldemort turning and walking away back up the stairs they had come from.

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Author's Note: Wooh I'm sure I'm going to get some interesting comments from this one. Thank you all for reading, and as a request. Id love to see a review spike from this chapter. I know it's probably selfish, but just tell me how you feel about the story up to this point. PLEASE!


	21. A Tragic Defeat Fuels a Blazing Rebirth

AN: I did not have power for an extended period of time, that is why this chapter is so late in getting out. For that you have my deepest apologies. The power company is being… Difficult about the entire thing, but for now I once again have the ability to post so please accept this chapter as we come up on the end of year 1.

  
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There are a few things you should know about coming to from a forced unconsciousness, the first is that it’s not like those fluttery eyed beautiful waking up scenes in dramas, it is sudden, forceful, and very explosive. Secondly, it’s not uncommon to gasp, drawing in a very deep breath. Some people view this as panic, and it can be, but most of the time it’s the first conscious thought that hits the brain. Thirdly, the adrenaline. When the brain attempts to process the last thing that it remembers, as is with most forced unconsciousness events, a serious event, the body responds flooding the system with adrenaline forcing a fight or flight reaction.

  
Harry sat down the pamphlet he had been given with a sigh. Waking up in the hospital wing had been an unpleasant experience. The burning shame of his failure to stop Voldemort had on more than on occasion sprinted to the front of his mind and left him feeling quite unhappy with himself. The fact he had saved his friends was a relief, but the memory was stained with his failure. He knew on some level that no child his age would be expected to fight Voldemort and yet the chilling exclamations that Voldemort had said had unbalanced him, left him feeling like he should have been able to do something, anything. Harry realized had been dealing with the fact that he had been played with, his best spells rebuffed, and he had been left with nothing, but the chilling knowledge that Voldemort would be waiting for him.

  
The story was, according to Madam Pomfrey, that Dumbledore had made it back to the school and the alarms in his office had been activated, alerting him that someone was making an attempt on the stone. Dumbledore hurried through the challenges only to find an obviously exhausted Harry in a deep magical sleep. Nearby his friends were still left in a pile just now rousing from their sleep. No one knew what had happened, that was, until Harry woke up and explained what had happened.  
Of his Failure…

  
Of how he had been baited with his friends’ lives, and how he had taken the bait refusing to let his friends be hurt because he had refused to act. Of his defeating the traps that lay in front of him. Of the intense pain that overcame him and left him unable to defend himself when Voldemort had walked right up to him, oh and how stricken Dumbledore had looked when he had explained that particular detail.

  
The exact details of the battle and the insane sounding speech Voldemort had made were only relayed to Dumbledore and McGonagall who both said little except for urging him to take his time and to breathe when he felt overwhelmed.

  
For all his efforts and his explanations Harry felt somehow hollow, drained of energy and drive. He didn’t know what would become of himself and that perhaps scared him more than the Voldemort encounter. Would he be sent back to his Aunt and Uncle now that he had proven he couldn’t fight? Perhaps placed in an orphanage and told to fend for himself? He was already considering how he could attempt to make it through to the start of the next school year, if they even allowed him to come back. Harry was deep in his musings when Madam Pomfrey came back from her office and informed him that he could go down to the leaving feast after he went to speak with Professor Dumbledore in his office.

  
The walk gave him time to think, time to stew in his own emotions. He was just working himself up into a proper fit when he was come across by Professor Snape. Harry had gone to move around the man when a solid hand landed on his shoulder and he was steered into a nearby classroom that the professor unlocked with a whispered spell.

  
“Mr. Potter, I would like a few words before you speak to the headmaster.” Snape announced as he cast a series of spells over the doorway they had just entered through. Harry didn’t recognize a single one and that thought for some reason made his hairs stand on end

  
“Is something wrong sir?” Harry’s knew his voice had come out strained but couldn’t muster up the energy to be embarrassed about it, not when he could still be in danger.

  
“Per chance there is.” Snape announced as he spun around with his wand still out which caused Harry to jump backwards. Harry looked, startled, at the man’s face and his eyes flicked to the wand that was still drawn continuously. Was he really about to be attacked by a teacher only a day after being attacked by a previous one?

  
“Your wand, Mr. Potter. If you would be so kind.” Snape said pointing his own wand at the ground and outstretching his other hand toward Harry. After a moment of hesitation Harry pulled his wand out and gave it to the professor.

  
“I simply wish to see the spells you cast, and then share a few words with you, no need to fret.” Harry jerkily nodded refusing to tear his eyes away from the man’s face. If he was to be attacked, he wanted to at least see it coming.

  
“Priori Incantatem” Snape said with a flick of his own wand. Harry’s wand reacted immediately, replaying the spells he had cast in reverse order. Harry saw where he had cast each spell and the pauses in between. Snape seemed satisfied with this and handed Harry his wand back carefully. “There are few that can say they have stood before The Dark Lord and lived to tell the tale. Fewer still who can say they’ve done it twice. You may think yourself weak or Incompetent, and while your potion brewing skills could do with a fair improvement, you should not feel inconsequential. These fights never should have happened, no one expects you to battle him as a child, no one expects for you to win while you know so little.” Snape said with a frigid tone, if Harry hadn’t heard the words himself, he doubted he would believe Snape had said them. The man had always been rather cool with him, but this was very much unlike the professor who stared down at his potions with contempt.

  
“Your mother grew up alongside me.” Snape whispered quietly after a brief pause. His voice was different now, not quite so cold nor did it had the hard edge of sarcasm that normally laced his words.

  
“My mom?” Harry answered back surprised.

  
“Indeed, she was a brilliant witch. Smarter than near anyone else our age. I have made many mistakes in my life Harry, but I can easily say the largest one and the one I wish I could change most was growing apart from your mother. Perhaps at a future time I can tell you about her, for now you should go to the headmaster.” Snape offered as he cancelled the spells at the door and opened it for Harry.

  
Harry exited the room in much less of a slump than he was in beforehand. He wasn’t exactly jumping for joy, but whether Snape had meant to or not he had at least distracted Harry from him previous musings. So caught up in his thoughts was he that he didn’t even notice when he walked right past the gargoyle that guarded the staircase and up the stairs only realizing where he was when Dumbledore invited him inside.

  
“Ahh Harry, it is good to see you up and awake so soon. I had worried that Voldemort’s spell would leave you asleep until well past the end of term.” Dumbledore said from his desk, which was empty of paperwork a stark contrast to how it normally was when Harry visited. When he noticed Harry looking, he smiled. “I see you’ve noticed my lack of paperwork; well it seems that someone in the mail room of the ministry had the most wonderful idea for all of my mail to be routed through the goblins of Gringotts and then returned to the ministry. While a very safe practice and one that is sure to screen my mail most carefully, it left it showing up days late. This now explains why things I had sent out were not showing up on time. The issue has now resolved itself, so I am once again paperwork free, just in time for no paperwork to appear on my desk for almost two whole months. Strange how that works, no?” While it was phrased quite jovially Harry was able to pick up on the undercurrent of the conversation easily, someone had sabotaged Dumbledore’s mail, and it had caused him to leave the castle on the night where Harry had gone after his friends and had confronted Voldemort.

  
“That is rather unfortunate sir, I hope whoever did that got a rather stern talking to.” Harry said carefully.

  
“Oh yes, I quite think that the young man, will never make such a decision on his own ever again. Ahh, the follies of youth. However, Harry, that was not the reason I asked you to be here this evening. I have rather large news that I think you should take a seat for.” Dumbledore motioned to the seat in front of his desk and Harry’s stomach dropped, so he had been right Dumbledore intended to punish him in some way.

  
“You will be happy to know that you received well over forty offers for you to stay with families during the summer holidays. There were also several offers of adoption, but in your best interest I chose to leave you under my care, as I believe I hold a unique role in your life.” Here Harry exhaled dramatically and practically melted into the chair he was sitting in. Dumbledore continued on with only a slight quirking of his lips

  
“I narrowed down the list of families to ones I thought suitable for you. For your own safety I removed any family that had confirmed or reported ties to Voldemort and his followers, the so-called Death Eaters. After that I removed any family that I felt would attempt to use you for your wealth or political power, I truly believe that you should make your own decisions once you come into your own with proper teachings to guide you. Thirdly I looked for families that have previous connections with the Potters, who as I learned had their fingers in many pies indeed. The Potter fortune expands in many directions with interests in businesses all across both the muggle and magical world. This narrowed down the list significantly. In fact, only three families remained that I felt would be suitable for you.  
The first is the Tonks Family. You are already very well aware of Nymphadora from your meetings this year with her, but she comes from a good family in my judgement. Her father, Ted, is a solicitor and actually runs his own office, which the Potters helped fund. Ted was your father’s solicitor up until that tragic evening at which point, he lost all ability to do anything with the Potter account due to the family magic locking him out; Possibly in an attempt to preserve itself. Her mother goes by the name of Andromeda. A beautiful and very skilled witch, she was born Andromeda Black to which you are related by rather distant blood. Andromeda is a healer by trade and works in the wizarding hospital located in central London known as St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies. The apprenticeship program she enrolled in to earn her job was started by a Potter ancestor many many years ago.

  
Secondly is the Greengrass family, with whom you are in the same year as their eldest daughter Daphne. The Greengrass family is part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, meaning they, as a magical family, can trace their line back to the founding of Magical Britain. When Arthur pulled the sword from the stone and became the one true king twenty-eight families stood beside him. They are a famously neutral family, refusing to side with anyone permanently. The Greengrass family has made their fortune on fast tracking exportation and importation of goods, with techniques that fall under the mantle of family magic so no one can force out of them how they do such things. Cyrus, the patriarch of the family, has offered to give you lessons on politics if you choose to stay with them, along with cultural lessons should you prove interested. Cyrus is a master politician, and as such has been elected the leader of the so called neutral block, who’s interest currently lay in preserving certain traditions of the old families, while opening our world more to muggleborns and foreign wizards. Many of our current laws are penned with both the Potter and Greengrass names as co-writers, also the early version of the Potter Will has them named as Allies of House Potter, though it does not list why so I feel they would also be a worthwhile family to look after you.

  
Thirdly is House Longbottom, with whom you share the same Hogwarts House as Neville who is also Heir Apparent to his lineage. The Longbottom family has stood with the Potters for so many generations it is near impossible to tell when the pairing actually started. What we do now from public information is that if a Potter was ever in need of protection for any reason a Longbottom was assigned as their guard. Their family charters call out a long-standing pact of brotherhood and comradery. Currently the house is run by Augusta Longbottom, a very intense lady who plays the political game quite well. She stands as a Moderate Progressive in political terms while leaning toward the Light in terms of her beliefs. She stands firmly against any proposals that would lead to the darker sided families gaining power. She is also a member of the Hogwarts’ Board of Governors. In a future time when you are accepted as your majority, the first person I intend to set a meeting up with is Augusta as she will be of great help to unlocking the secrets of House Potter. Until such a time presents itself however Augusta is knowledgeable in all of Wizarding History, and has quite the reputation as a story teller” Dumbledore finished.

  
“All three seem like good choices sir, but I do have a question.” At Dumbledore’s gesture Harry continued “Is there a reason the Weasleys were not chosen?” Harry was worried that his best mate’s family had some dark secret he wasn’t aware of which drove him to asking this. Dumbledore seemed surprised by the question then let out a hearty laugh

  
“Oh no Harry, there is nothing wrong with the Weasley Family, in fact they are such a staunchly Light sided family that I would trust them with you in a heartbeat. The reason they were not chosen is a simple one. While I trust Arthur and Molly implicitly, they already have many children and I do not wish to stress them unduly. I’m certain that they would say it is no trouble at all, I just simply do not want to be a bother to them. I’m sure if you wanted, you would be able to visit them over the summer at any time you wanted and they allowed.” Harry nodded deep in thought, he hadn’t considered that the Weasley house may be overly full, but he conceded that it did make sense considering all the Weasleys he had seen and heard about.

  
“I do not expect an answer immediately Harry, in fact you have a week before you must choose, or you can simply leave the choice up to me. In the meantime, you will be staying here in the castle while we attempt to get a little bit of work done, including a trip to Gringotts at the end of the week. For now, you may go down to the feast which will be starting soon. I will join you shortly.”  
“Thank you sir!” Harry said as he stood up and gave a friendly wave, before ducking out of the office and down the stairs quickly rushing off to the shortcut Susan and he had used during the dragon egg incident. It was easy to slip into the waiting crowd gathered at the stairs trying to make their way into The Great Hall, he would have been completely stealthy, if not for the twin pairs of hands grabbing him by the shoulders and dragging him backwards into the side hallway that had the badger head in it.

  
“Ickle Harryikins, back from the dead it seems.” One of the twins said as they ushered him into a corner that provided them cover from the crowds moving past.

  
“Hey guys,” Harry said as he leaned into the stonework behind him, at least with the twins he knew he was safe. “What’s up?”

  
“We just wanted, to impress on you, how grateful we are, for you saving Ron, if you ever need anything know that we’ve got your back!” The twins said swapping who was speaking back and forth at every breath. Harry considered what he had just been told, the twins were a sight to behold and the stuff of legend in the Gryffindor common room. Practical jokes were their bread and butter and it never ceased to amaze and excite all involved. Mysteriously people they pranked ended up having good luck afterwards if one paid attention, Harry had already announced his theory to Hermione, Ron, and Susan on the matter. He was sure they were doing something nice as payback for their victims. It was not unusual for someone to find something they had had confiscated returned, or to stumble upon something they needed just lying in their path.

  
Harry stammered for a moment before standing up straight, his training in wizarding culture kicking in “As Heir Potter I accept the favor given by George and Fred Weasley to be returned at a later date.” One of the twin’s mouth was open in shock before receiving an elbow to the ribs from the other one, where they quickly glanced toward each other before turning back to Harry “We Fred and George Weasley do certify a debt owed by us and us alone to Harry Potter.” Afterwards they both relaxed and George raised an eyebrow at Harry

  
“Since when did you get all fancy with pureblood rights?” He asked inquisitively.

  
“Well it’s just something Dumbledore has been teaching me, he says I’ll need to know it since I will one day be Lord Potter.” Harry replied with a shrug

  
“Well we had better remember to pull dad aside and let him know, we don’t expect any trouble of course Harry but as Head of House its best he knows.” Harry responded with a nod and swiftly rejoined the crowd heading to the leaving feast which had thinned considerably by the time he returned. He swiftly noticed Ron sitting next to Hermione and quickly joined them. Right when he was about to say something Dumbledore spoke drawing all of their attention toward the Head Table.

  
“Another year has passed and now it is time for us to bid our goodbyes, may this feast appease you as we break our selves of our routines and move into the summer months. As is tradition we shall now count the House Points to see who our champion house is. In last place with three hundred and fifty-two points is Hufflepuff, next up the ladder is Ravenclaw with four hundred and twenty-six points, sitting in second place is Gryffindor with four hundred and fifty-seven points, and finally Slytherin with four hundred and eighty-two points.” The cheering from the Slytherins nearly drowned out the hall of all other noise and with a mighty wind the banners in the hall became silver and green with a motif of a snake on them. Dumbledore still stood at his podium however which left some of the older student’s curious as he had never done so before according to the whispers Harry heard around him. Suddenly over the celebrating someone was shouting drawing attention to one of the banners which was slowly morphing from the very bottom into a burgundy and gold coloring.

  
“Ahh yes, I had almost forgotten, there are some last-minute points that need to be awarded. There will be a ten-point reduction in points to Gryffindor for a very serious breach of rules,” And audible groan came from the Gryffindor table at this announcement. “And there will be a fifty point addition to Gryffindor for one member of your house standing above the call of duty of even an adult, for defeating puzzles that would leave older students trapped, and for quite possibly the best reason there is, being a true friend to those around him.” This announcement was met with widespread silence and Harry noticed people from every table looking at him. “Now then I believe a change of colors is in order.” Dumbledore announced. If it had been loud before when the Slytherins had been celebrating it was deafening now with several Claws’ and Puffs’ joining in at the end of the Slytherin winning streak.

  
Everything after that was a blur to Harry. The feast, the celebration in the common room afterwards, the mournful goodbyes and promises to write, and suddenly Harry was left alone at the gates of the castle which had become his home.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~ FIN ~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

Authors Note: As of this moment this story has been fully updated, some details in previous chapters have changed minutely, so a reread may be in order. There is one chapter left of this story which will cover Harry’s summer and the much anticipated Gringotts vault visit. There will be a poll up on my profile on FFN for who Harry should spend his summer with. Your choices were covered in the story, but for those who need a refresher they are. House Greengrass, House Longbottom, and House Tonks.

Link to my profile: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/6540824/Ulltima101


	22. One Road Leads To Another

AN: And so, we come to the end of this story, but not the end of the entire journey, not even close. I’ve had bad anxiety about posting this chapter. Paralyzing amounts honestly. Stories like mine, that are mid-tier, they either raise to greatness or die after the final chapter is posted. No story sits in mid-tier forever, my reader (1). You either raise to greatness or you die. So, if this story absolutely bombs then well, it’s been interesting. I started this story so long ago with just a little idea I had and then it sat for so long before I ever looked at it again. My writing has evolved and changed so much and I’m so thankful for every person who has read and reviewed and just interacted with this story. The poll for the final chapter closed a while ago with Family Greengrass and Family Tonks tying for first place.

Diagon Alley was as usual extremely crowded, but that wasn’t really a problem for the duo making their way to Gringotts. People made room for them on word of mouth alone, they waved and oohed and awed, and on more than one occasion someone came up and asked to speak to Dumbledore for at least a few minutes. Harry filled the time by shaking hands with people and answering questions. Dumbledore had warned Harry that this would happen. They both had reputations that made people want to talk to them, and Dumbledore had many important jobs that drew him much attention.

“I apologize Harry, I knew it would be a process getting to Gringotts, but I did not expect it to be this bad.” Dumbledore said as he returned to Harry once again.

“Oh, I don’t mind sir, I understand that people seeing us out and about is important.” Harry replied as he pushed off the wall he was leaning against previously.

They were only stopped one more time before they made it to the large steps of the bank. Goblin guards stood at attention but made no move to stop them as they walked up the steps and into the bank proper. It was the same as Harry remembered from his first visit; There were multiple rows of tellers set up at desks that stretched to the far side of the room. People loitered around filing in paperwork or waiting on a teller to free up so they could move up and speak to them. It was system that screamed efficiency to Harry, and he was sure that was fully intended.

Dumbledore stood in line just like everyone else, and when called he walked upward toward the teller and waited to be recognized. When he was, it was a flurry of action that had Dumbledore, and Harry along with him, pulled deeper into the bank past multiple doors and hallways. Harry was truly lost by the time they were finally brought to a large gold door with a plaque on it with strange writing that Harry could not read.

“Sir, what does that say exactly?” Harry asked as the goblin they had followed bowed once before them then slipped inside the room latching the door closed behind him.

“It says Office of Keen-Eye, Overseer of Gringotts London Branch. It is written in the Goblin’s language; you will eventually lean it in your studies.” Dumbledore responded airily as he stood with his hands clasped behind his back seemingly at ease with the world around him.

Harry nodded to that and began to wait along with Dumbledore. After a few moments the door opened to a room that screamed power to Harry. The richly colored rug they walked across muddled the sound of their foot falls as they made their way inside, the walls were covered with weapons and armors, and clippings of stories written both in English and the Goblin language. Large sitting couches sat along the walls along with bookshelves filled to the brim with ancient tomes that must have contained untold knowledge. The main attraction was the desk and sitting chairs at the far side of the room. To say it was magnificent would be an insult. It was beyond words. The woodworking skill required to make something like this must have cost a fortune by itself, beautifully dark wood with shifting grain flowed throughout the piece, it was matched by the two chairs that had been arranged for them which they quickly sat in. On the other side of the desk sat quite possibly the largest goblin Harry had ever seen, he had many scars, but it didn’t detract from the intensity of his eyes which looked at him almost inquisitively.

“My apologies for staring Mr. Potter, it is not every day that Albus Dumbledore and the slayer of Voldemort walk into my bank. If it has not yet been said, then by my sincerest words, Welcome to Gringotts London Branch. How may I help you today?” The words flowed from the goblin’s lips like honey, each word spoken with an inflection that lent his words a charm to them that made them hard to be disagreeable with even if Harry would have been in a bad mood.

“Master Goblin, it is my understanding that Professor Dumbledore has been actively attempting to gain access to the Potter Family vault so that we can access my Family Grimoire. It is also my understanding that an agreement was made to that end. We have come today to pursue that end.” Harry said in his best professional voice

The goblin across the desk grinned a sharp toothed grin before letting out a short bark of a laugh.

“You’ve been trained well by Dumbledore, but you made a single mistake. In dealing with goblins, until you know your standing, you should never thank them even in an implied way. Otherwise excellent delivery and etiquette Mister Potter. I am Lishtick Keen-Eye, you may refer to me just as Keen-Eye in present company. Your guardian and I share a working relationship, and I hope to one day have the same with you.”

“Keen-Eye, it is good to see you again my friend. It has been to long since we traded stories over a glass of Ogden’s Finest.” Dumbledore said with warmth in his voice. “How have you been my old friend?”

“Well Dumbledore! My position strengthens every day.” Keen eye responded at once

“Your position?” Harry asked confused.

“I am a… recent appointee to this position. I made my case as to why I felt I would be a better fit for the position and was granted a trial by combat as is our way. I bested the goblin that had formerly had this job and since then I have been securing my position so that no one may use the same route I used to challenge me.” The goblin explained politely.

“That’s an interesting story sir. Perhaps some other time you could tell me about it?” Harry asked with a not insignificant amount of awe in his voice.

“I like this one Dumbledore! Polite and interested in battle. Perhaps when you are a bit older, I will weave the tale for you, for now however we have a date with a sealed vault gentlemen.” The Director said as he stood and walked over to a side door that he opened and motioned for them to follow him. Through the dimly lit passage they walked for an extended period of time, until Harry was able to see light and the sounds of something large moving about.

When they finally broke through the opening Harry was surprised to find them deep underground in an absolutely monolithic sized cave. In front of them was a railing which Harry rushed over to and looked all around him. Vaults numbered one through twenty-eight circled around and at the very bottom seven more vaults sat with large crests emblazoned on the doors instead of numbers. That was not what drew Harry’s attention there though. It was the huge scaled beast that stalked about on the ground there with rows of scales fading from a burning red to a pitch black as they moved from its snout to its spiked tail.

“Mr. Potter, these are the vaults of the Sacred Twenty-Eight and the Vaults of King Arthur, Merlin, Morgana LeFay, and the four Hogwarts founders. This is the lowest part of the bank and has the best security, including the dragon you see currently. When I took over the dragon that was down here was downright mad after the previous torture it had been put under in the name of training. I made the decision to put it down and end its suffering. This one is being trained in a much more stable way and we have already seen great results, unfortunately it means only our trained dragon handlers may go near it currently, otherwise I would let you go down and inspect the impressive artistry on the vault doors down below.” Keen-Eye stated as he joined Harry at the railing. Dumbledore joined them shortly afterward as well peering about at the armed goblin guards in resplendent armor who patrolled the vault entrances.

“Upgraded security I see Keen-Eye.” Keen eye grunted as he finally pulled his eyes away from the dragon down below and begun walking toward the numbered vaults.

“After the failure of my predecessor that allowed the intrusion in the fall of last year, I felt a more visible approach may prove useful, we soon plan to have more guards in the main bank area as well.” Keen-Eye said with obvious distaste in his voice. He quickly led them around the spiral deeper to one of the lower layers of the giant cave. As Harry marveled at each of the large vaults, he noticed that as he passed some of them, he felt small pulls on his magic.

“Sir, why do I feel like some of my magic is being drained when we walk by some of the vaults?”

“Your lineage Harry leaves you connected to many other families that are part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight. Given that a main family member allowed it, you may be able to open some of these vaults, the vaults are simply testing your magic to see if they should open for you.” Harry nodded he understood while marveling at the complex magic at work, he wondered at how they had set it up to do that for so long he barely noticed when they stopped in front of Vault Number Eleven.

“This is the Potter family main vault inside are several hundred years of Potter history along with the largest percentage of the family’s gold. There are other vaults that also have gold in them, your trust vault for example, but this is where the main Potter fortune is stored.” Keen-Eye said as he walked up to the vault in question and ran his finger across an old plaque that had a smudge of dust on it. “All you will need to do is walk up and put your hand on the vault door, it will do the rest.”

Harry nodded and after a quick glance at Dumbledore stepped up and lightly placed his palm on the huge vault door. Almost immediate he felt the familiar pull on his magic, but also something else. He recognized it immediately, it was hard to forget the feeling of raw power from when he had made his way to Voldemort through the traps. Harry was vaguely aware that his magic had made a connection to this strange outside source of magic when he felt the inner workings of the door shift and allow the huge metal door to swing inwards.

The first thing he was aware of was the absolute piles of coins all around him as he stepped over the raised first step. Piles of Galleons, Knuts and Sickles sat in organized piles with numbers hanging over them. Next were the paintings numbering easily over one hundred sat inside the vault hanging on the walls as far back as he could see, none of them appeared to be moving, in fact they all seemed to be asleep. Thirdly were the books, so many books on shelves that ranged from Alchemy, to Defense, and journals ranging back several hundred years based on their spines. The last thing Harry saw was sitting ever further back very near the back of the cave there was a single column of white marble made into a pedestal with a royal purple book that had his family’s crest on it.

“Do I just pick it up?” Harry asked turning back to the entrance where Dumbledore and Keen-Eye stood.

“You will need to put your hand over it and say. By blood I am the last of the Potters I request access to my family’s records so I may do them proud. You will know if it worked by a small flash of light under your hand” Dumbledore called out to Harry who turned back towards the book and began carefully making his way over to it. Dumbledore then turned to his goblin friend

“Why are none of the paintings active?”

“The vault locked itself down when the boy’s parents died, no active magic means the paintings went into paralysis to preserve themselves for the next generation. I’d say by this time next week they will begin awakening at which point they will start asking questions.”

“Interesting, the Potter’s must have spent a fortune to ensure all of this redundancy.”

“More than one fortune Dumbledore, has gone to making sure the Potters will always come out ahead no matter what has happened.” Keen-Eye responded without looking away from the bright flash of purple light and the form of Harry running back to them book in hand. The boy skidded to a halt right in front of them just at the threshold of the vault.

“I heard voices! They welcomed me as the next Lord of House Potter!” he exclaimed as he joined them back outside the vault. Just as he stepped out the door of which swung closed after Harry locking in place with the sound of several locks clicking back into place.

“That is quite interesting Harry, there have been stories of the Potter Wizengamot Lord’s Ring speaking to the current wearer before, perhaps another failsafe made by your family. The Potters have shown up several times in history with rare and powerful items.” Dumbledore mused as they bid farewell to Keen-Eye before leaving his office and making their way back out into the alley proper.

The response this time was much more reserved only people calling out to them never stopping them as they had before. Before Harry even knew it, they had arrived back at Hogwarts through the Floo in Tom’s Tavern, the same place they had come in from in fact. After a quick meal in the kitchens where Harry met the Hogwarts House Elves, they reconvened in Dumbledore’s Office.

“Alright Harry, from this point on we are wadding into an area that is very personal to every family. I do not know what will happen in fact, I have only guesses. Each family has a unique way of passing along its history to the next generation. The only thing that is widely accepted is that once the family magic accepts you as the next Heir it will pass along the knowledge needed for you to be fully accepted at whatever age your family has deemed old enough. I will be here should you need advice, but this is something you must do yourself Harry.” Dumbledore explained as he sat at his now emptied desk the only thing present, being the Potter Family Grimoire facing Harry.

Harry stared at the book in front of him, hundreds of years of Potter family history sat in front of him according to the voice he had heard when he had picked up the book the first time. A family with hundreds of members spanning a long-detailed history. He flipped the cover open and expected to hear the voice again, but instead he was met with silence and a directory with a lot of words that seemed blurry to him. He began by flipping to the first section that was available to him, Inheritance.

“It says here that for an emergency head of house to be named a candidate must be at least fourteen years old, strong enough in magic to be recognized by the Family Magics, and must go to Potter Manor and put their name on one of the Journals there claiming it as their own. The house magics will then further evaluate them and if they are found free of influence then they will be named Head of House Potter.” Harry said as he quickly read the section that he had flipped to.

“Well done, is there anything else that must be done Harry?” Dumbledore asked from the other side of the desk. Even though he could see the book in Harry’s Hand the words seemed to shift and twist in front of him, most likely a modified Confundus Charm tied to anyone who lacks the Potter Magics.

“There is a section here about emergency measures, but I can’t read all of it. Some sections are like trying to read squiggly lines, they keep moving.” Harry said as he once again looked down at the book and its twisting typography.

“Until you become Head of House you may not be able to read such things, this is common as the Heads of House often has many secrets that are passed down from one Head to the next. What can you read of it?” Dumbledore explained quickly.

“It says that should House Potter ever fall to one member, then by reading this section of the book, which will only be readable in such a circumstance then, several ancient contracts will become active, calling on all the favors House Potter has ever earned.” Harry shook himself after reading that. “Sir once I started reading it, I couldn’t stop. It was like my own lips wouldn’t do what I wanted!”

Dumbledore’s face looked grave as he thought about what had just happened, apparently Keen-Eye had been correct there were many levels to the Potter redundancies, even in their Family Grimoire there was compulsionary magic tied to making sure the family would survive at all costs. “Worry not Harry, I don’t see this being a bad thing, you or perhaps even I as your current Magical Guardian, may be approached in the coming days with people saying they are ready to assist with the debt they owe the Potters. If possible, send them to me and we will discuss what it is they owe House Potter.”

Harry still looked pensively at the book in front of him, there were other sections even one called Family Genealogy, that he was interested in, but he was also scared to read more. Dumbledore not quite lost in his own thoughts saw Harry staring at the now closed book in his lap with a frown on his face. Deciding to ease the boy’s feelings he spoke

“We are in luck Harry, by reading this book we now have a heading, something to lead us further on the path, including to your parent’s wills, which I now know must be in Potter Manor as they were not in the vault. Potter Manor is a fortress of ancient magics, it will take some time to unwind them allowing us entry, but now with what we have we are taking the first step. That Harry is always the most important part of the journey, the first step.”

“I understand sir, I’m just a bit worried about what else the book may make me do.” Harry said as he looked at Dumbledore

“Worry not Harry the Family Magic would never allow anything to hurt you in that book, it may force you to speak, but it can not make you do anything that would lead to harm.”

“That is a relief sir, I… I don’t like being controlled or told what to do like that.”

“Completely reasonable Harry, completely reasonable. To move on, let us speak about something that is in your control. I informed you a week ago that there were three families who would be willing to take you in for the summer. Have you made any headway with that decision?” Dumbledore asked swiftly changing the topic. He knew that the more esoteric uses of magic could be disheartening to those who had yet to learn about them in full, so he quickly made roads to a hopefully safer topic, he was rewarded with the excited grin that appeared on Harry’s face.

“Yes, sir! I did a lot of thinking and I think I came up with something that I would like very much. I really want to spend some more time with Tonks, but I think that it would be a great opportunity to learn from Mister Greengrass and meet his daughter as well. So, I was hoping that I could spend half the summer with one family and then half the summer with the other? Would that be something that could be done?”

Dumbledore let out a hearty laugh before replying “Yes Harry I think that could be arranged very easily, do you have a preference on who you would like to stay with first?” He was met with a shake of the head from Harry. “In that case I quite think that you will enjoy your time relaxing with the Tonks first, after all your most recent adventures, I do believe you deserve some rest and relaxation.”

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

Finale: If you as readers are interested, I will add one more chapter to this story, detailing Harry’s Summer vacation. I… Don’t know if you guys would be interested or not so I’m leaving it here. It’s been a long time coming, but I just want to say thank you all for all the reviews and comments it has driven me to be better, and I hope you all will join me in my retelling of year two titled

Heir of House, King of Serpents


	23. That Leads to Another

The fireplace blared a vibrant green before Harry stepped out of it into a cozy sitting room with several high-backed chairs, a rug, some bookshelves against the far wall and a few paintings up in the walls. The house smelled of vanilla and he could just make out the sound of humming or very low singing from his left, while on his right he could hear the Wizarding Wireless playing a catchy tune he didn’t know the name of. Harry took a few steps forward from where he had stepped out and just a moment later Dumbledore appeared behind him.

“Remember Harry the key to magical travel is to exit it as if you were walking. If you wait too long it will eject you, and I speak from experience that that is not pleasant.” Dumbledore said as he dusted some soot off of his robes

“Now that would be a sight so see, the great Albus Dumbledore being launched out of a Floo. I could probably sell tickets.” A voice announced from another part of the house, before a man stepped into view. He was tall, standing almost even with Dumbledore in height, had short sandy brown hair, and what appeared to be laugh lines on his face, his build was slender but widened at the shoulder just a bit.

“Ah Ted, if I remember right there are several stories I could tell young Harry about your time in Hogwarts, perhaps the time on the staircases when you…” Dumbledore began before being shortly interrupted.

“Now I don’t think that will be necessary, after all we wouldn’t want the lad to get any ideas, would we?” A third voice interposed on the conversation. In the archway leading to what Harry guessed was the kitchen stood a tall beautiful woman with chocolate brown hair that extended down her back stopping just before the halfway mark and the warm hazel colored eyes that Harry met were dazzling in their own way.

“Ahh Andromeda, I thought perhaps that was your baking I smelled.” Dumbledore said as he moved forward, and the woman met him halfway for a hug.

“Harry these are Ted and Andromeda Tonks, the parents of Nymphadora, and based on the fact that I was not just hit with a stinging hex I will assume the young Auror is not here?” he was met with a laugh from Ted who responded while chuckling

“No, she’s out on an official patrol with her mentor who is retiring after she passes her tests.” Ted said as he sat in one of the comfortable chairs and motioned for the others to sit. Dumbledore and Harry both sat in different chairs, while Andromeda sat on the arm of the chair her husband sat in.

“Well as I’m sure you are aware, you put your name forward to look after young Harry this summer, and I’m happy to let you know that you have been chosen for that offer along with the Greengrass family. You will be splitting his time in half the first part of the summer with you and the second half of the summer will be with the other family. Harry feels this will help him learn more about the different family styles in the wizarding world and give him a unique view about our life. Another reason I put your names forward is I believe that you two will be able to help Harry in a more broad way, you see Harry has a voracious appetite for learning magic and well, everything I can put in front of him.” Harry had the good sense to blush here as he knew it was a subtle praise from the Headmaster.

“I know he can’t be taught the more advanced forms of healing magic, but if you could give the boy a crash course in your free time I’m sure he would appreciate it, and Ted if you get some time, I am certain you will find some interesting conversation with Harry about law and proceedings.” Dumbledore finished.

“Well I certainly have no problem showing him the basics, first aid magic is a practical thing to have after all.” Andromeda answered immediately and was quickly followed up by Ted “If the boy wants to talk shop, I’m sure I could find some time to entertain him.”

“Excellent, I’m afraid I must be off, but give Nymphadora my best.” Dumbledore said as he stood and bowed to the residents of the house before making his way back to the Floo and heading inside once again with a rush of air.

Harry was quickly led to the second floor where he was shown the bedroom that would be his for the first half of his summer. He was given a quick tour of the house and the surrounding yard and after that a lunch consisting of delicious roast sandwiches and as a treat a small vanilla brownie. It was halfway through this lunch that Tonks showed back up and sat down completely ignoring Harry’s presence. She had her eyes closed and was rubbing at the sides of her head in circular motions completely ignoring everyone around her.

“I swear Mad-Eye is trying to kill me. I swear he is.” Tonks voice came out hoarse and strained. A plate was sat in front of her with a similar sandwich as Harry’s had been. She slowly stopped her ministrations and just leaned back into the chair finally relaxing. When she opened her eyes, she immediately zeroed onto Harry who was sitting there eating his gooey vanilla brownie and sipping on a small glass of milk. He made a little wave gesture at her with his brownie filled hand, and before he knew it, he was wrapped in a hug.

“Wotcher Harry, I didn’t even notice you.” She said enthusiastically before backing up and reseating herself at the table where she just noticed the sandwich and brownie that were in front of her. She immediately dug into the food and wolfed down the entire meal in no time flat before once again leaning back into her chair and closing her eyes.

“A patrol starting at three A.M. should be illegal.” She groused out loud which was met with a hearty chuckle from her parents and a questioning look from Harry

“Does that mean you’ve been out on patrol for nearly ten hours?” Harry asked in awe.

“Yeah, Mad-Eye, my mentor, is a bit of a sadist, but I’ve only got one more test with him before I graduate to full on Auror. I’ll still be a junior, but I’ll be the senior most junior with the highest ranking because of who trained me. I’ve been informed it’ll come with some extra responsibilities, but I don’t really mind.” Tonks explained with her eyes still closed and her hands crossed in her lap.

“No, no, no young lady you are not falling asleep in that chair, go up to bed.” Andromeda voiced from the far side of the kitchen where she was running some water over the plates they had used for lunch.

“but mom, it’s so far and I’m so comfy.” Tonks whined scooting a bit lower into her chair and letting out a yawn.

“Maybe you should ask Harry to carry you up the stairs then, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.” Andromeda said in a teasing voice. Harry looked around confused at the idea, how was he to carry Tonks up the stairs when she was way taller and heavier than him?

“Moooooooom, stop being weird. Besides Harry’s a kid he couldn’t carry me….” Tonks complained until she stopped and then got a thoughtful look on her face before turning to Harry and getting a wicked looking grin on her face. “Would you carry me, if you could?” She suddenly asked.

The phrase a deer in headlights would perfectly describe Harry’s face as he processed the question. “Well, uh, sure, I guess? But how would I even do that I don’t have a broom or anything and…” Harry stopped talking as Tonks stood up and stretched her arms meeting above her head, before she started shrinking and shrinking until she appeared to be a slender waif of a girl with bright pink pigtails and freckles on her face looking no older than seven years old. Harry blinked, then blinked again.

“I didn’t know your powers had so much range, you just lost a ton of height and weight, not to mention the hair style change and just wow. When I was younger, I was able to instantly regrow my hair and change it colors, but this is… woah.” Harry said as the child form of Tonks walked over to him and pulled his hand while sleepily saying

“Yeah, magic, it’s great.” Every word being interrupted with a yawn. Harry acquiesced by picking the girl up in a half fireman carry and taking her out of the room and up the stairs to the door right across from his. When he pushed it open, he wasn’t sure what to expect, but the art hanging from the walls and the band posters were such an eclectic mix that it almost stunned him until he got tapped on the shoulder by his passenger. As soon as he sat the girl down on her bed, she curled up on her side and pulled the blanket up over herself while half mumbling “Thanks Harry.” He was fairly certain she was asleep before he even exited the room.

With that Harry quietly exited the room and closed the door behind him before heading back down to the dinner table where he was met with laughter.

“I’m sorry Harry, I didn’t expect her to actually do it. That must have been strange for you.” Andromeda managed to get out between her laughs. Harry nodded, what a strange house he had been invited into.

Time seemed to fly by for Harry in the Tonks residence, most days he spent reading books and helping cook which now that he was away from the glaring eyes of Petunia, he found that he really enjoyed doing. There was something about putting work into something and it coming out in just the right way. His meals were met with great cheer, and the conversations he had with Andromeda while cooking were certainly interesting. The occupants of the house had certainly welcomed him with open arms, each always taking some time to talk with him and even though they all had to leave for their jobs semi-regularly Harry never felt truly alone while in the house, because even if all three residents were gone the house still felt full of their presence. And that was without speaking about the one on one time he had gotten with each of the residents.

“Alright Harry what do you know about healing magic?” Andromeda asked him as they sat around the table with a plate of freshly made cookies siting between them. Harry could already see the chocolate starting to melt and he knew if he waited just a few more seconds they would be fully melted and would taste all the better with the tall glass of milk he had beside him.

“Uhh not much, unfortunately. It’s not covered in the year one teachings and well the one injury I’ve had since coming into the magical world was this.” Harrys says as he gestures to the deep furrow above his eyebrow. “And I was informed that since it was such a magically charged injury it wouldn’t be possible to heal it.” He dunked one of the gooey cookies in the glass of milk and quickly took a bite savoring the taste.

“Mmm yes, they do provide a unique challenge. Simply for the fact that it is impossible to tell what may happen. Introducing magic to other magic can cause interesting results and it is often better left alone unless it is life threatening. I one time had a patient who had a Diffindo hit them across the shoulder come in. When I began treating them my magic reacted to the latent magic in the cut that had lasted through the patients shield charm. Three different magics mixing together made it a very dangerous situation luckily the only fall out form it was the patient’s ears turning blue. There’s still a lot we don’t know about magic unfortunately and it can lead to all kinds of different results.

“Wow, that’s incredible I had no idea that magic could react like that. I’ve read of some crazy magical interactions in big duels before, but to think that small things like that could happen as well is just…wow.” Harry exclaimed from his seat.

“Yes, a lot of people seem to forget that magic isn’t something we really control. Magic is its own sort of beast. We just sort of guide it along the path we want it to go to… at least that’s my view on it. Now unfortunately since you you’ll be splitting your summer, I won’t be able to go into too much depth with you on some of the finer points, but I would at least like to teach you the most basic healing spell. If you show an interest or an aptitude for it, I’ll recommend you go to Madam Pomfrey and see about getting some pointers from her.”

“That is an interesting point of view. I hadn’t considered it like that before.” At the mention of learning a new spell Harry perked right up. “It would be useful to know a little something about healing, you know in case of emergencies.”

“Indeed, now the incantation is pronounced Episkey, emphasis on the K. It mends skin back together, so a split lip or a paper cut is about the extent of what this spell can manage. The wand movement is a simple diagonal line. The origin of the spell is Greek in nature coming from a Greek healer who passed it along before his death. It’s been known to cause temperature swings in affected areas. As with all spells the Intent of the caster is very important. You need to WANT to heal them, to mend the injuries, or the spell won’t have any effect.” Andromeda explained while walking over to the kitchen drawer and drawing out a knife Harry knew was sharp from his experience using it earlier that morning. Once she returned to the table, she drew the tip across her thumb where a thin line of red appeared as she split the skin with expert precision. 

“Now watch carefully Harry, Episkey.” And as she spoke and drew her wand in a short line her skin knit itself back together as if the cut had never been there. She showed her thumb to Harry and then motioned him around the table, where she once again ran the knife across the delicate skin of her thumb. “Your turn Harry, remember to focus on the want to heal.” Harry nodded at her before drawing his wand out and flicking it in the diagonal line he had seen her do and enunciated the spell while focusing on the skin on her hand sewing itself back together and, on her feeling better. “Episkey” and just as it had before, the skin knit itself together leaving no sign it had ever been anything but.

“Excellent work Harry, you’ll have noticed that the spell took almost no energy to cast correct?” Andromeda was met with a nod from Harry who hadn’t even noticed a pull on his pool of energy. “Different and deeper cuts will require more energy. An especially long and deep cut will take a huge amount of energy in comparison to the cut you just healed. Before you leave I’ll fetch you my Junior’s Guide To Healing book and you can hold onto it until you finish it. Again, if it strikes your interests you can ask Dumbledore to get you the next in the series.”

His talks with Ted were unfortunately short lived as the man came into a major case shortly after he arrived but in the few times he did get to talk to him it was just as informative as his time with Andromeda had been.

“Harry the biggest advice I can give you, is always read everything before signing it. Any upright deal will give you ample time to read and go over it, if they try and push you into signing quickly or without you reading first there is probably some type of shady business going on.” Ted had told him one night after stumbling back into the house from the Floo.

“When I was reading about the goblins it was mentioned a few times to always let a professional look over anything they wanted you to sign as they liked to use tricky language and worded loopholes to allow themselves different ways to break down a deal to always favor them.” Harry said as they sat down in the lounge, Harry with a glass of tea and Ted with a plate full of food. 

“That’s very true Harry there is in fact a special field of Law for dealing with goblin contracts, it focuses on looking not just at the meaning of the contract but also the wording, I’m unfortunately not trained in such a field, but there is someone trained at my office.” Ted replied in-between mouthfuls of food.

“Yes, if there is one thing I can instill into you about law it is caution. Caution has saved more than one case from completely favoring the other side because the person I was representing happened to notice something was fishy and did some double checking, or I looked into an area they hadn’t expected me to look at and there was the turning point evidence.” Ted said as he sat aside the plate he had been eating from. “At one time I was the representative lawyer for your parents and helped them quite a bit with some matters of law, even their will. Unfortunately, due to the magics involved I can’t reveal what was in it in anyway otherwise I would have already volunteered the information. Once you become Head of House Potter, I will be able to divulge everything to you.”

“I understand sir, I really do. The Potter Family Magics are very prone to secrecy from what I understand, so it does not surprise me that any confidentiality would be double enforced by them. I hope one day you can tell me about the process.” Harry said as he sipped his tea before it fully cooled.

“It was an interesting process; I can tell you that Harry. Your mother was quite the dedicated wordsmith.” Ted informed him with a smile.

The rest of the time spent with Ted was small snippets and stories from working with his parents. Due to the heavy workload he was under Harry didn’t get much time to speak with him more in depth, but they both promised that if Harry ever needed any kind of law advice he would be encouraged to send him an owl.

That left the remaining bulk of his time with one Nymphadora Tonks. Time spent with her was… interesting to say the least Harry hadn’t expected to spend much time with her since her job was so demanding but that was before her big announcement. After that they seemed to flit from one topic to another faster than Harry could keep up. Before that she was normally too tired to do much more than mumble a greeting to them before dropping off to nap in one of the chairs. The announcement though changed everything.

“I’m being given a special job, where I’m going to be reporting directly to Amelia Bones! I don’t know the details yet, but it’s crazy! I officially finished training yesterday and went to report for my formal assignment and was told to report directly to her; I was so shook up I nearly tripped over my own feet getting to her office. Of course, once I sat down and she offered me some tea, which I checked because who knows if Mad-Eye would be watching, she told me I was being pulled from the department pool. I thought I was being rejected, but then she was like no no no you’ll be doing a special assignment for me. Oh my gosh guys.” The whole family plus Harry clapped and smiled and shots were poured for everyone, minus Harry who got pumpkin juice for the special occasion, and toasts were thrown out. After that Tonks was around much more.

“Not that I don’t mind hanging out Tonks, but why aren’t you going to work?” Harry asked as he laid on the floor listening to the radio in her room play while he skimmed over the book Andromeda had given him.

“I’m off until my special assignment starts in September, and no I’m not allowed to share the details of it.” She said as a copy of Witches Weekly dangled in her hands upside down as her head hung over the edge of her bed.

“That’s quite a bit of time off, almost two whole months, what will you do to pass the time?” Harry said as he flipped a page of his book and nodded along to a catchy tune that had just came on the radio.

“Wellllllllllll,” Tonks said rolling the L out on the word “I’ll still be doing most of my combat training and going for jogs, I’ll also be doing some research for the assignment, but once again I can’t tell you exactly what it is.” She said glancing at Harry out of the corner of her eye, she was suddenly struck by the memory of him carrying her to bed his first night there and her checks flushed in embarrassment at the memory.

“Have you thought about dueling?” Tonks said suddenly after a few minutes of silence between them.

“Dueling?” Harry answered quizzically. “Uh no, not really. I know the official dueling rules as they pertain to me as an Heir Apparent, but nothing concrete about the act itself.” Harry mulled over the words as he said them, his only real experience with dueling was the mock fight between himself and Voldemort. 

“Interesting, you’ve got some time left before you swap to the Greengrass’s, lets get you some practical experience.” Tonks said as she threw her magazine on the bed and grabbed Harry’s hand easily pulling him up and to his feet. “Come on I know just the place.” Harry was dragged down the stairs and to the Floo. “Mom, I’m taking Harry to the Bull-pen. Be back later!” And Before Harry knew what was going on, he was in the Floo still being dragged. He landed in an office of desks and moving bodies, paper planes flew overhead in every direction and he barely had time to look around before he was once again tugged along until he got to a large imposing wall of obscure glass. A single knock and a quick “Enter” and suddenly Harry was standing in front of Amelia Bones. 

“I have a security request.” Tonks said once Amelia looked up at them with an eyebrow raised. With a wave of her hand she motioned for Tonks to continue her speech.

“As a Muggleborn Heir Apparent, Harry is woefully underprepared in several areas of our society. He mentioned to me that while he understands where his place is in a duel and the rules surrounding it, he has no formal training in such. As someone who has worked with him before, I feel it would benefit him to get some real training in. I was thinking week three training for a few days, just the practical stuff.” Tonks explained.

“Mmmhmm, one question. Did you actually ask Harry if he wanted to do this or did you just drag him along?” Amelia replied with a smirk on her face. Harry was at the perfect angle to see Tonks’ face light up and her hair to catch a similar shade of red. “I thought not. Harry good to see you again.”

“And to you Madam Bones, I hope Susan is doing well?” Harry responded with vigor, he really should write a round of letters for everyone now that he thought about it. “And before you ask mam, I don’t mind. I think some physical exercise might do me good. I had considered going out for the quidditch team this coming year, being a bit more fit would probably do me good at try outs.”

“She’s well! I unfortunately don’t get to spend much time with her during the day, but at night she talks often about you and her other friends. Perhaps we should arrange for you to visit for a day? And if you’re okay with it, then I see no reason not to use week three training for him. Nothing above Stinging Hexes however.” Amelia replied back to both Harry and Tonks. Harry left the office in a much more dignified way than he had entered, bidding Amelia goodbye and that he would be over to visit Susan sometime soon.

“Alright kiddo, we’ll be off to the Arena now. You’ll head into the male side and get changed into one of the workout sets and then just walk straight out the door in front of you. I’ll meet you on the floor.” Tonks said as she pointed out the door on his right that had a Staff on it, the opposite door had a Witch’s hat on it. He walked inside and peered around. There was a guided path of arrows and what looked like 3 closets, he followed the first arrow and when he came up to the first closet he was met with a small flash of light and suddenly in front of him was a workout shirt, the same thing happened at the second station which gave him a pair of shorts that stuck to his hips regardless of how he moved, the last station gave him a pair of underwear along with socks and a pair of shoes that appeared rather muggle in appearance. Once he was changed, he walked out the door the arrows lead to and was immediately met with sand underneath his feet and Tonks standing on the far side of the arena.

“Wotcher Harry, this is the arena. Its used for mock dueling and training. Today we will…” Harry listened in while Tonks explained that he would be practicing dodging spells, after all the most effective way to not be hit by something was to not be there when it landed. While listening Harry eyed Tonks’ outfit, while he had been given workout gear, she had also obviously been issued some. Similar shoes to the ones he was wearing but in pink were on her feet, instead of shorts she was given what appeared to be skintight pants, her midriff was exposed showing the beginning of a pack of muscles, even further above that was a tight crop top. Her hair was short and blue not even reaching past her ears. Her wand was in her hand and pointed out her arm extended.

“Sounds good, dodge the. OW TONKS!” Harry yelped as he rubbed the sore spot on his arm. He didn’t even get to think about complaining as he was suddenly moving through the sand kicking up handfuls of the arena floor. Harry soon realized that he was way out of shape as after only five minutes he was on the ground clutching his ankle out of breath with Tonks standing over top of him.

“Five minutes and a few seconds, not bad honestly. You’ve got some good moves, that horizontal dive saved you and really threw me off my aim. You’ve got good reflexes, and more stamina than I expected of a wittle firsty.” Tonks said as she offered her hand to Harry. She was covered in a sheen of sweat from the constant casting, but didn’t seem winded at all.

“Do I get to try?” Harry asked as he caught his breath. After a few more moments where Tonks hoed and hummed she responded with a cocky grin.

“Sure, if you think you can hit me, then go for it. Heck I’ll make it interesting.” And here she leaned into Harry ‘s personal space whispering in his ear. “If you hit me faster than you gave up, you get one favor no questions asked.” And when she pulled away Harry’s face had gone very red due to the invasion of privacy.

“Deal.” Instantly Tonks was several feet away from him dodging his stinging hexes with ease and laughing all the while. Harry tried aiming where she would be, she changed direction. He aimed where she was she would suddenly be several feet away. He aimed high and low at the same time, she simply stopped moving all together to let the spells pass by her. The entire time keeping her distance from him. Three minutes came and went and still he hadn’t landed a single shot, he came close once, but she actually shrunk several inches and the spell passed harmlessly over her head as she let out another round of elated laughter she never returned to her previous size. Four minutes, Harry hated losing so he came up with a plan, a devious sneaky plan, but a plan. Four minutes and fifteen seconds he began herding her toward one part of the arena that he quickly approached. Four minutes and thirty seconds, forty seconds left as he cornered her, but she was ready to dodge any direction.

“Give up Harry I’ve got years of casting experience and actual training.” She said as she sucked in breath waiting for Harry to make his move. 

“You’re right of course, that’s why I have to do something interesting ay Nymphadora?” Harry said as he swept his wand in front of him and billowing gas that flickered different colors spewed out covering the area between them.

“Don’t” Harry took a running leap forward.

“Call” he hit the sand just like he planned

“Me” he was sliding through the sand only a few feet from her

“NYMPHA…dora?” Tonks said as she felt something touching at the divot where her chest met her throat, and suddenly the faintest of stinging feelings passed over her skin. When the smoke dissipated Harry was standing there his wand tracing the line of her throat and a slight red spot marking where he had tagged her. Harry was panting completely out of breathe, his knee skinned and bleeding freely from his impromptu slide, but the grin and elation in his eyes was unmistakable. Suddenly clapping filled the air around him much to his confusion. Harry turned around slowly and looked upward to find Amelia Bones watching him, clapping.

“Bravo Harry, quick thinking and a good plan. Taking advantage of an opponent’s known reaction and using it to keep them busy as your own distraction took effect. Layered plans are normally the most effective, keep that in mind for the next time.” Harry nodded as he fell backwards into the sand beneath him and just laid there. “Nymphadora, you let your emotions get the better of you, but also you got cocky. You underestimated Harry because he is a first year, but he is a first year who has been through much and his skills have been on display all year, you yourself wrote the reports after all.”

Tonks looked down not meeting either of the people’s eyes in the room. “Don’t get down on yourself you were doing well, but you got overconfident, use this as a learning opportunity. You should both head back home after you get cleaned up. Harry you’re free to come back any time and request week three trainee training at any time. Tonks since your assignment doesn’t start until later you will be his partner if he comes.” After they had both cleaned up, they stopped by Amelia’s office and chatted for a few minutes before making their way back to the house. Harry’s days afterwards were varied, cooking meals, doing combat training, learning healing, writing letters, which he noticed never got any response, and before he knew it, it was time for Harry to leave the Tonks family, and join the Greengrasses. It was an emotional separation with hugs all around and promises to write.

Author’s Note: I had planned on writing the greengrass portion in this chapter as well, but it kind of got away from me. Trying to write 5 different stories at once is simply to much for me.


End file.
